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Woman' &  Hegal  j^talus;>v,^  % 


HERE  shall  be  no  discrimination  because  of  race 

or  color  says  our  Constitution,   but  with   the 

great  onsweep  of  the  woman's  movement  toward 

equality   of   citizenship   comes    the    awakening 

to  the  fact  that  there  is  vast  discrimination 

because  of  sex. 

|B9  This  is  the  land  of  modern  chivalry,  where  the  moral 

jjj      qualities  of  the  woman  are  most  highly  valued  and  her 

>      station  in  society  as  "the  glory  of  the  man"  most  fully 

1  acknowledged,  where  she  is  admittedly  the  conservator  of 
5      domestic  purity,  of  social  decorum  and  of  public  sentiment. 

But  with  equal  education,  commercial  opportunity  and 
^  responsibilty  there  is  increasing  weight  of  reason  why  she 
'J  should  be  given  the  greatest  degree  of  civil  freedom.  In- 
^      sofar  as  there  is  discrimination  because  of  sex  there  is 

2  created  a  condition  of  servitude  for  women.  When  a 
married  woman  cannot  sell,  mortgage  or  otherwise 
hypothecate  or  manage  and  control  the  property  she  was 

8     possessed  of  when  she  entered  the  marriage  contract,  she 

g     is  barred  from  that  freedom  of  action  which  is  the  right 

2     of  every  American  citizen,  married  or  unmarried.     When 

.4     a  married  woman  is  not  sui  juris,  when  she  cannot  contract 

or  when  she  cannot  select  her  domicile  or  exercise  her 

<     right,     or     be     held     for     her     contractural     obligations, 

she  is  in  a  state  of  legal  servitude,  a  fact  which,  if  more 

generally     and     thoroughly     understood     by     womankind 

might    reduce     the    business     of    the    Marriage  License 

Bureaus. 


2  WOMAN'S     LEGAL     STATUS 

Out  of  the  far  West  the  torch  of  woman's  emancipation 
comes  blazing  its  way  and  hghting  the  dark  corners.  In 
its  wake  there  is  legislation  which  gives  to  men  and 
women  the  same  legal  status,  whether  constituting  a 
right,  or  privilege,  or  claim,  the  protection  or  defense  of 
the  party. 

There  is  no  subject  of  such  vital  import  to  every  man 
and  woman  as  the  law  of  the  State  where  he  or  she  dwells 
and  of  legislation  as  it  improves  conditions  in  neighboring 
States  and  the  nation — yet  there  is  no  subject  upon  which 
there  is  such  general  lack  of  information.  The  school 
boy  bids  farewell  to  his  Alma  Mater  with  what  is  deemed 
a  completed  education  yet  without  the  first  idea  of 
contracts,  their  making  and  breaking,  or  the  number  of 
years,  under  the  Statue  of  Limitations  of  his  State,  when 
an  action  to  enforce  or  protect  his  rights  may  be 
maintained.  The  girl  leaves  her  school  well  trained  in 
music,  art,  literature,  but  with  no  information  of  existing 
laws  which  are  advantageous  or  pred judicial  to  her 
interests,  or  the  obligation  devolving  upon  her  to  knov/ 
the  laws  of  other  States,  especially  where  they  better  the 
condition  of  women.  She  is  entirely  unaware  of  the  laws 
needed  for  the  protection  of  working  women  and  taxpayers, 
for  destitute  mothers  and  oiphans,  for  sanitation  and 
morality — and  all  of  these  things  she  should  know  either 
as  the  en^franchised  citizen  or  the  to-be  enfranchised 
citizen,  since  it  is  for  the  courts  to  say  what  the  law  is, 
not  what  it  should  be. 

The  conflict  of  laws  between  the  States  increases  the 
ambiguity  of  woman's  legal  status  in  this  country.  In 
Colorado  a  woman  has  about  all  of  the  rights  and  privileges 
accorded  men,  except  jury  duty,  while  in  Louisiana, 
married  women  have  a  standing  in  courts  in  civil  actions 
only  when  authorized  by  their  husbands,  being  -  in  the 
purview  of  the  law  veritable  rimless  ciphers.  In  one 
State  there  is  no  controversy  as  to  a  woman's  right  to 


WOMAN'S     LEGAL     STATUS  3 

contract,  in  another  she  cannot  be  held  for  her  contractural 
obhgations.  In  one  State  a  man  may  whip  his  wife  and 
be  within  the  bounds  of  his  legal  rights,  while  in  another 
State  the  chastisement  would  be  valid  ground  for  divorce. 
There  is  full  agreement  in  all  of  the  States  on  just  one 
phase  of  the  law — women  are  not  excluded  or  exempt  from 
full  penalty  for  violation  of  any  of  the  criminal  Statutes. 

By  study  and  comparison  of  the  laws  of  the  several 
States  in  their  relation  to  women  may  be  evolved  such 
legislative  measures  as  will  tend  to  establish  a  fair  legal 
status  for  women,  which  would  mean  a  government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people  and  by  the  people,  along  with  the 
concession  that  women  are  "people." 

The  power  is  vested  in  the  Legislatures  of  the  several 
States  to  make,  ordain  and  establish  all  manner  of  laws, 
statutes  and  ordinances  not  repugnant  to  the  Constitution 
and  deemed  for  the  best  good  and  interest  of  the  Conimon- 
vv-'ealth.  It  is  by  and  through  these  law  making  bodies 
women  must  establish  their  protective  and  defensive 
measures  and  these  measures  should  be  so  fair,  sane  and 
equitable  as  to  command  universal  respect  and  confidence. 

Careful  and  intelligent  progress  by  women  in  the 
shaping  of  such  new  laws  as  are  intended  to  equalize  their 
status  with  the  male  citizen  will  best  demonstrate  their 
right  to  citizenship  with  its  resultant  obligations  and 
duties,  for  in  the  multiplicity  of  laws  now  cluttering  our 
statute  books  a  few  more,  unless  direct,  forceful  and 
valid,  will  but  add  to  the  confusion  and  defeat  their  pui-pose. 
It  may  be  well  to  recall  the  fact  that  in  1913  more  than 
two  thousand  bills  were  introduced  in  the  Wisconsin 
legislature,  of  which  eight  hundred  and  twenty  three  were 
passed.  The  law  making  bodies  of  other  States  stagger, 
session  after  session,  under  equally  heavy  burdens. 
Wherefore  it  would  seem  that  a  Bureau  of  Legislation, 
with  women  fairly  represented,  to  which  all  bills  would 
have   to   be    sulimitted    for   approval    before    introduction, 


4  WOMAN'S     LEGAL     STATUS 

would  be  a  good  move  to  prevent  the  duplication  of  bills 
with  the  same  end. 

While  in  many  of  the  States  a  woman  is  permitted 
separate  property  rights  and  the  joint  guardianship  of  her 
children,  the  national  government  regulates  citizenship 
according  to  the  fealty  of  the  husband.  The  American 
woman  who  weds  a  foreign  husband,  although  they  live 
in  this  country  afterward,  has  no  citizenship  here  unless 
the  husband  applies  for  naturalization  and  does  become 
a  naturalized  American  citizen.  The  wife  has  no  power  to 
legulate  her  status  of  citizenship.  The  Act  of  March  2, 
1907,  Provides: 

"Sec.  3 :  That  any  American  woman  who  marries  a 
foreigner  shall  take  the  nationality  of  her  husband. 
At  the  termination  of  the  marital  relation  she  may 
resume  her  American  citizenship,  if  abroad  by 
registering  as  an  American  citizen  within  one  year, 
with  a  Consul  of  the  United  States,  or,  if  residing 
in  the  United  States  at  the  termination  of  the  marital 
relation,  by  continuing  to  reside  therein. 

Sec.  4:  That  any  foreign  woman  who  acquires 
American  citizenship  by  marriage  with  an  American 
shall  be  assumed  to  retain  the  same  after  the  termin- 
ation of  the  marital  relation  if  she  continues  to  reside 
in  the  United  States  unless  she  makes  fonnal 
renunciation  thereof  before  a  court  having  jurisdiction 
to  naturalize  aliens,  or,  if  she  resides  abroad  she  may 
retain  her  citizenship  by  registering  as  such  before 
a  United  States  Consul  one  year  after  the  termination 
of  the  marital  relation." 

Much  individual  hardship  must  result  from  the 
inability  of  a  woman  to  declare  her  citizenship  regardless 
of  her  husband.  The  late  Inez  Millholland  Boissevein  is 
a  case  in  point.  The  intensely  patriotic  young  American 
woman  mari'ied  a  Belgian  and  at  the  end  of  a  brief  honey- 
moon they  returned  to  this  country  to  live  but  she  was 


WOMAN'S     LEGAL     STATUS  5 

no  longer  an  American  citizen  and  had  lost  not  only  liei- 
citizenship  but  her  right  to  practice  law.  She  would  have 
made  any  kind  of  declaration,  taken  any  oath  which  would 
have  affirmed  her  loyalty  to  her  native  land,  but  she  was 
entirely  helpless  to  change  her  status  by  any  act  of  her 
own.  She  immediately  plunged  into  work  for  American 
women  going  from  coast  to  coast  on  a  trying  campaign, 
literally  giving  her  life  for  her  sister  women,  yet  unable 
to  say  "I  am  an  American  citizen."  This  country  has 
produced  few  men  with  minds  more  brilliant  than  this 
wonderful  super-woman  possessed  and  there  will  never  live 
any  man  with  a  finer  conception  of  real  citizenship  and 
its  duties,  yet  she  was  without  the  right  to  assert  or 
maintain  citizenship  other  than  that  established  by  the 
mai"ital  relation. 

The  Sections  of  the  Federal  Statute  quoted  above  would 
seem  to  be  but  carrying  out  the  contemplation  of  the  law 
that  the  husband  and  wife  are  one  person,  giving  the 
husband  sole  power  and  authority  over  the  acts  of  his 
wife,  the  merger  having  submerged  the  personality  of  the 
wife  in  the  personality  of  the  husband. 

Even  the  most  superficial  examination  of  the  Common 
Law,  the  Roman  Law  and  the  statutes  of  the  several 
States  of  this  country,  except  those  States  where  by 
legislation  in  recent  years  a  separate  and  individual  legal 
status  has  been  given  wives,  shows  the  complete  guai-dian- 
ship  of  the  wife  is  recognized  in  the  coverture  of  the 
husband.  This  is  but  following  the  trend  of  Justice 
Blackstone's  opinon:  "The  very  being  or  legal  existence 
of  the  wife  is  suspended  during  marriage,  or,  at  least  is 
incorporated  and  consolidated  into  that  of  the  husband." 
Certainly  in  the  statute  regulating  citizenship  Blackstone's 
opinion  is  held.  The  domicile  of  the  husband  is  the  domicile 
of  the  wife.  The  American  born  woman  who  marries  the 
subject  or  citizen  of  another  country  becomes  at  once 
merged   in   the   citizenship   of   her   foreign   husband   and 


6  WOMAN'S     LEGAL     STATUS 

though  she  leave  her  husband  and  reside  on  American  soil, 
so  long  as  the  marriage  exists  she  is  the  subject  or  citizen 
of  the  country  of  her  spouse. 

An  important  Code  of  Laws  is  known  to  have  existed 
in  the  early  days  of  Babylon,  about  2250  B.  C.  This  Code 
was  inscribed  on  a  monument  set  up  in  a  conspicuous  and 
central  place  and  when  a  citizen  felt  aggrieved  he  went 
out  and  looked  up  the  law  foi-  himself.  Even  in  that 
ancient  day  there  was  discrimination  against  women.  The 
i.usband  was  the  master  of  his  wife  as  of  his  slave  and  h«» 
could  pledge  her  for  the  security  of  debt  on  an 
agreement  much  like  our  chattel  mortgage.  The  husband 
;-.ouid  repudiate  his  wife  at  will,  he  could  change  her  with 
as  much  facility  as  a  man  may  change  his  stenogi'aphei- 
or  clerk  nowadays,  but  if  a  woman  repudiated  her  husband 
she  was  condemned  to  pay  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law — ^ 
a  veiy  violent  extreme  it  was,  too,  for  the  description 
declares  it  to  have  been  "impaling  on  a  stake."  Hence, 
with  customs  established  so  long  (since  when  the  mind 
of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary),  giving  legal 
advantages  to  men,  it  is  not  strange  that  changes  must 
be  accomplished  by  the  only  road  round,  the  franchise,  as 
the  one  safe  road  home  to  Justice.  That  the  franchise  has 
bettered  conditions  for  women  is  shown  by  the  amendments 
to  statutes,  since  the  suffrage  amendment,  in  the  States 
where  women  now  vote.  There  are  better  laws  for  the 
protection  of  women  and  minors,  pensions  for  destitute 
mothers,  labor  laws  which  defend  the  potential  mothers 
and  the  children  who  must  work  to  live.  Gov.  Carlson, 
of  Colorado,  has  declared:  "One  of  Colorado's  greatest 
assets  is  her  voting  population  which  consists  of 
intelligent  women  as  well  as  men.  In  all  reforms  the  women 
have  taken  an  active  part  and  important  movements  have 
often  had  their  inception  in  '  small  gatherings  of  public 
spiiited  women  who  were  willing  and  able  to  give  time 
to   forwaiding   questions   which    at   first   sight   men   may 


WOMAN'S     LEGAL     STATUS  7 

have  deemed  unimportant.  The  principle  of  equal  suffrage 
rests  upon  simple  justice.  In  a  democracy  where  the 
people  rule  it  is  unfair  that  only  half  of  the  people  should 
have  a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  government  and  the  other 
half  of  the  people  should  be  forced  to  make  use  of  a 
spokesman  or  remain  silent."  And  John  M.  Parker,  the 
man  of  whom  Louisiana  is  so  justly  proud  as  her  citizen 
whose  career  in  State  and  national  politics  is  without 
blemish  or  reproach,  who  carried  the  banner  of  the 
Progressive  Party  as  Vice-Presidential  nominee  in  1916, 
and  who  is  known  and  loved  from  side  to  side  of  his  native 
State,  gave  to  the  writer  the  following  story  as  a  tribute 
to  the  influence  of  women: 

"My  fondness  for  fishing  and  hunting  has  made  me 
many  friends  among  those  leading  the  simple  life  and 
living  close  to  nature.  Their  judgment  is  clearer  and 
better  than  those  contaminated  by  commercial  and 
political  strife. 

One  day,  sitting  on  a  log  eating  lunch,  one  of  those 
grizzled  fai'mer  friends,  a  splendid  man,  said:  'John,  this 
woman  suffrage  business  has  made  me  do  a  lot  of  tall 
thinking.  Nine  times  in  ten  my  wife  would  vote  with  me — 
and  the  tenth  time  she  would  be  right."  "Woman's  sense 
of  right  and  wrong,"  concludes,  Mr.  Parker,  "is  much  better 
than  man's,  her  sense  of  perfect  justice  much  sounder." 

It  appears  that  whether  it  be  to  know  how  and  when 
citizenship  may  be  acquired  or  lost,  the  legislation 
pertaining  to  property  rights  or  personal  obligations,  the 
woman  citizen,  fighting  for  an  equal  place  with  her  brother, 
needs  to  be  informed  in  the  law.  Blackstone  said:  "It  is 
undeniable  that  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  law  of  the 
society  in  which  we  live  is  the  proper  accomplishment  of 
every  gentleman  and  scholar."  Cicero  gives  us  the  informa- 
tion that  even  the  boys  of  Rome  wei-e  made  to  learn  the 
Twelve   Tables   as   a   carmen  neccessarium.     Today   every 


8  WOMAN'S     LEGAL     STATUS 

woman  should  Imow  at  least  the  outline  of  laws  which 
affect  her. 

From  the  legal  point  of  view  the  inferior  position 
occupied  by  women  has  been  gradually  changing  and  is 
a  reflection  of  that  civilization  which  has  been  developing 
through  hundreds  of  years.  There  remains  much, 
however,  in  certain  States  of  our  glorious  "land  of  the 
free"  to  be  changed  and  cured  if  we  may  justly  claim  to 
have  turned  all  of  the  pages  of  predjudice  and  tradition 
inherited  from  barbaric  times.  Some  idea  of  the  progress 
made  by  women  in  the  past  few  decades  may  be  gained 
by  comparing  the  status  of  women  today  with  that  shown 
by  the  recently  evoked  Statute  of  the  time  of  Edward  III, 
under  which  Sir  Roger  Casement  was  indicted  for  High 
Treason,  and  which  declared  Petty  Treason  to  be  "lack  of 
faith  to  a  subject  as  when  a  vassal  slays  his  lord,  a  priest 
his  bishop  or  a  wife  her  husband."  Some  three  hundred 
years  later  women  were  deemed  of  slightly  less  inferior 
position  for  when  Queen  Mary,  the  Consort  of  William  III, 
passed  on  to  that  reward  which  is  promised  even  to 
crowned  heads,  her  body  was  accompanied  from  Whitehall 
to  Westminster  Abbey  by  all  of  the  Justices  and  Serjeants 
of  Law  attired  in  black  silk  gowns  as  mourning  garb. 
The  black  silk  gown  has  continued  to  be  worn  by  Justices 
in  England  and  elsewhere,  coming  to  be  an  insignia  of 
the  high  office,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  remember  it  was  first 
worn  in  honor  of  a  woman,  even  though  a  dead  woman. 

In  the  United  States  the  legal  status  of  women  grows 
yearly  nearer  the  perfection  of  freedom  and  equality  which 
might  be  expected  under  our  Constitution.  The  woman 
is  a  citizen.  She  does  her  part  in  the  nation.  She  is  taxed 
and  pays.  She  is  represented  in  every  profession,  trade 
and  calling.  She  has  equal  education  and  nearly  equal 
commercial  opportunity  and  responsibility — in  the  far 
West  where  she  has  been  weighed  in  the  scale  with  equal 
civil  1  ights  she  has  not  been  found  wanting. 


'  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  9 

CHILD  LABOR. 

On  September  1st,  1916,  President  Woodrow  Wilson 
si^ed  the  Federal  Child  Labor  Bill,  the  first  effort  of  the 
national  government  to  protect  children  in  this  country 
from  labor  conditions  which  had  been  a  growing  menace 
to  the  citizens  of  tomorrow  because  of  the  greed  of  their 
taskmasters.  The  Bill  must  stand  as  an  everlasting 
monument  to  the  better  element  in  the  nature  of  law 
makers ;  it  is  the  answer  to  the  plea  of  the  mothers  of  the 
land  for  child  protection.  It  cannot,  unfortunately,  be 
retroactive,  and  there  stands  as  a  living  reproach  an  army 
of  crippled  and  maimed,  of  mental  defectives  and  weazened 
incompetents,  the  product  of  child  slavery.  It  is  the  plain 
duty  of  every  State,  and  of  the  Federal  government,  to 
reach  out  a  protective  arm  to  the  overworked,  under  fed 
army  of  infants  whose  puny  frames  and  untutored  minds 
wait  helplessly  for  legal  aid.  No  matter  whether  the 
sentiment  which  forces  child  protection  be  the  result  of 
sympathy  for  the  child,  consideration  for  the  welfare  of 
the  nation  or  aversion  to  the  money-mad  taskmasters,  the 
result  is  one  hundred  per  cent  good.  Judge  Bissell,  quoting 
in  a  decision  handed  down  in  the  155  N.  Y.  Supp.  p.  577, 
said :  "The  Puritans  hated  bear-baiting,  not  because  it  gave 
pain  to  the  bears,  but  because  it  gave  pleasure  to  the 
spectators."  Nevertheless  protection  given  to  the  bears 
by  the  Puritans  was  good — for  the  bears. 

The  general  provisions  of  the  Federal  Child  Labor 
Bill  are: 

No  producer,  manufacturer,  or  dealer  shall  ship  in 
interstate  or  foreign  commerce  any  article  or  commodity, 
the  product  of  any  mine  or  quarry  situated  in  the  United 
States,  in  which  within  thirty  days  prior  to  the  time  of 
removal  children  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years  have  been 
permitted  to  work,  or  any  article  or  commodity  the  product 
of  any  mill,  cannery,  workshop  or  factory  in  the  United 


10  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

States  in  which  within  thirty  days  prior  to  the  removal 
of  such  product  children  under  the  age  of  fourteen  years 
have  been  permitted  to  work,  or,  where  children  between 
fourteen  and  sixteen  years  have  been  permitted  to  work 
for  more  than  eight  hours  in  any  day,  more  than  six  days 
in  a  week,  after  the  hours  of  seven  in  the  evening  or  before 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

Twenty  eight  States  allow  minors  to  work  more  than 
eight  hours  a  day  in  mercantile  and  other  establishments, 
and  nineteen  of  the  twenty  eight  States  which  make  some 
effort  at  labor  regulation  pei-mits  minors  to  work  at  night. 
Husky  men  have  declared  their  protection  by  labor  unions, 
men  of  full  stature,  strength  and  mentality,  while  infants, 
with  no  option  but  to  obey,  have  not  the  legal  defensive 
measures  between  them  and  their  taskmasters  to  which 
their  helplessness  and  their  importance  as  future  citizens 
entitles  them.  Twenty  eight  States  have  half-hearted 
prohibition  of  street  work  by  children,  but  twenty  of  the 
States  make  not  even  a  pretence  of  forbidding  children  to 
loiter  on  public  highways  as  mendicants  and  beggars,  as 
rope  walkers  to  please  gaping  crowds  of  the  curious,  or 
the  doing  of  other  penny  producing  stunts.  Twenty  two 
States  do  not  require  a  medical  examination  of  the  children 
before  granting  work  peimits,  and  so  puny  minors  get  into 
the  harness  of  factory  or  mill  or  workshop,  and  if  they 
survive  to  maturity  their  growth  is  stunted,  they  are 
narrow  chested  and  weazened  and  as  future  mothers  and 
fathers  they  are  the  feeders  of  institutions  for  feeble 
minded  and  mentally  defective,  for  penal  institutions  and 
the  charity  wards  of  hospitals.  Thirty  two  of  the  States 
have  educational  requirements  for  work  certificates  lower 
than  the  fifth  grade,  and  so  children,  barred  by  long  hours 
of  work  from  the  full  education  which  would  make  them 
good  citizens,  get  wrong  ideas  of  political  and  economic 
questions ;  they  go  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  anarchists,  the 
milk  of  human  kindness  which  feeds  brotherly  love  dries 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  11 

in  their  being  and  when  led  by  criminals,  or  in  stupid 
blundering,  they  break  the  law,  that  same  power  which  did 
not  protect  their  youth  and  give  them  the  chance  of  freedom 
and  opportunity,  lays  its  heavy  hand  on  them  and  exacts 
the  full  penalty. 

Between  July  1st  and  December  1st,  1916,  the 
Industrial  Commission  of  New  York  found  694  children 
under  fourteen  years  of  age  working  in  factories  and 
mercantile  establishments  and  tenement  apartment  shops 
in  one  District  of  the  City  of  New  York,  The  inspectors 
found  769  children  working  v/ithout  the  legally  required 
certificates  from  the  Board  of  Health,  210  children  were 
working  longer  hours  than  permitted  under  the  labor  law, 
and  it  was  found  that  in  one  District  727  women  were  work- 
ing longer  than  fifty  four  hours  in  a  weelv.  Tvlany  arrests 
and  convictions  were  had  and  probably  that  particular 
District  will  keep  within  the  law  for  some  time,  but 
investigation  showed  a  condition  which  exists  broadcast, 
and  the  owners  of  mercantile  establishments,  factories 
and  workshops,  must  be  educated  up  to  spending  more 
time  obeying,  less  time  in  evading  the  law,  more  time  to 
sanitary  and  social  betterment  in  their  workrooms,  less 
tinte  in  the  observance  of  their  favorite  commandment 
"Thou  shalt  not  be  found  out."  The  Autocracy  of  Greed 
goes  on  and  the  souls  and  bodies  of  women  and  children 
are  weighed  in  the  scale  against  perishable  fruit  and 
vegetables,  war  prices  and  changing  styles  which  leave  a 
smaller  margin  of  profit  to  the  manufacturer.  The  firm 
or  corporation  or  individual  which  undermines  the  health 
of  employees  or  sends  their  souls  along  the  pitfalls  of 
Poverty's  Highway  to  Kingdom  Come,  commits  a  felony 
in  the  sight  of  high  Heaven  and  it  would  be  just  as  well 
to  commence  the  punishing  by  man-made  laws  while 
civilization  goes  marching  on. 

The  scourge  of  war  has  shown  the  nation  the  need  of 
better  protection  for  the  citizens  of  tomorrow  and  the  day 


12  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

is  dawning  when  the  children  of  this  land  will  be  given  the 
broadest  paternal  care  by  the  government;  they  will  be 
treated  humanely,  their  strength  and  health  will  be 
conserved  and  their  education  made  compulsory.  The  last 
ounce  of  physical  endurance  will  not  be  wrung  from  women 
and  children  that  a  subsistence  may  be  had  while  the 
result  of  their  labor  goes  to  put  frills  on  stock  dividends. 
Work-shops  will  have  to  be  safe  and  sanitary,  workers  will 
have  to  be  physically  fit  and  the  whole  army  of  women 
and  children  who  must  work  to  live  will  be  surrounded  by 
governmental  protection. 

In  1898  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  declared  invahd 
a  Statute  which  limited  the  work  of  women  in  factories  to 
ten  hours  a  day,  declaring  there  was  "no  fair  and  just  and 
reasonable  connection"  between  it  and  the  "public  health, 
safety  and  welfare."  Yet  it  was  this  same  State  which  in 
1909  again  enacted  a  ten  hour  labor  law  and  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois,  in  a  most  humane  enveloping  opinion, 
acknovv'ledged  the  relation  of  the  Act  and  the  public  health, 
safety  and  welfare  of  the  people,  the  organ  of  the  court 
declaring:  "What  we  know  as  men  we  cannot  profess  to 
be  ignorant  of  as  judges."  A  ruling  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Oregon  on  the  labor  law  said:  "As  healthy  mothers  are 
e3Gential  to  vigorous  offspring  the  physical  well  being  of 
women  becomes  the  object  of  public  interest  and  care  in 
ovder  to  preserve  the  strength  and  vigor  of  the  race.  The 
limitations  v.hich  the  Statute  imposes  upon  her  right  to 
agree  with  her  emploj^er  as  to  tlie  time  when  she  shall  labor 
are  not  imposed  solely  for  her  benefit  but  for  the  benefit 
of  all."  In  mid-April  1917  the  test  case  which  had  been 
carried  from  Oregon  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
affecting  the  constitutionality  of  the  enactment  to  enforce 
a  minimum  wage  law  for  women,  was  passed  upon.  The 
court  of  the  nation's  last  resort  decided  in  favor  of  the 
minimum  wage  law.  Eleven  States  where  similar 
legislation  had  been   passed   waited    upon    the   decision   of 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  13 

the  United  States  Supreme  Court  to  determine  the 
constitutionality  of  minimum  wage  laws,  and  with  this 
decision  on  the  case  from  Oregon  the  splendid  protective 
and  defensive  measure  for  the  women  of  today  and  the 
children  of  tomorrow  is  finally  sustained. 

There  are  five  thousand  children  working  in  the  beet 
fields  of  Colorado,  there  are  sixteen  thousand  children  in 
the  agricultural  fields  of  Iowa,  and  on  the  farms  and  cotton 
plantations  of  North  Carolina  there  were  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  children  laboring  in  1916.  When  such 
numbers  of  minors  are  engaged  in  one  line  of  effort  alone 
it  is  indicative  of  the  serious  need  of  governmental 
protection  to  preclude  practical  enslavement,  for  the 
consideration  by  capital  of  the  margin  of  profit  from  labor 
creates  a  strange  obliquity  of  vision,  the  age  and  weakness 
of  the  employee  is  blurred  in  the  columns  of  figures  which 
represent  Producing  Labor  and  Minimum  Cost. 

Public  conscience  is  rapidly  awakening  to  the  right 
of  children  to  legal  protection  from  work  in  places 
dangerous  to  life,  limbs  and  morals,  from  too  long  hours  and 
too  little  remuneration. 

Georgia  has  enacted  a  measure  declaring  "No  boss  in 
any  factory  shall  inflict  corporal  punishment  on  minor 
laborers"  and  "Children  under  twelve  years  of  age  shall 
not  be  sold,  apprenticed,  given  away  or  hired  out  for  rope 
or  wire  walking,  acrobats,  etc."  It  is  presumed  the  children 
of  Georgia  will  be  properly  impressed  with  so  great  a 
concession!  Louisiana  passed  a  compulsory  education  law 
in  1914  being  forced  to  this  step  by  her  record  of  the 
highest  rate  of  illiteracy  in  the  United  States.  Most  of  the 
States  have  passed  laws  prohibiting  minors  from  working 
in  places  dangerous  to  life,  limbs  and  morals,  and  such 
laws  are  useful  and  salutary  and  not  obnoxious  or 
inconsistent  with  any  principle  of  humane  consideration  or 
legitimate  commercial  ambition.  They  are  provisions  of 
law   capable   of   being   executed    in   accordance   with    the 


14  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

legislative  intent  and  they  constitute  a  heritage  of  physical 
and  mental  well  being  for  the  citizens  of  tomorrow. 

Truly  the  best  thought  of  a  generation  is  peipetuated 
by  a  reform, 

THE  MOTHER'S  PENSION. 

It  required  much  investigation  of  statistics  showing 
the  amount  required  to  maintain  destitute  orphans  in  public 
institutions  before  the  law  making  solons  viewed  kindly  the 
proposition  to  give  the  money  appropriated  for  such 
purpose  to  mothers  so  that  the  children  might  remain 
in  their  homes.  Of  course  there  were  instances  of  private 
purses  being  hung  by  the  handle  of  political  pull  to  public 
coffers  and  the  Oliver  Twist's  who  dared  to  be  hungry  and 
ask  for  "more,"  to  complain  if  the  soup  was  made  without 
meat,  the  bread  was  not  buttered  and  weak  tea  knew  not 
the  luxury  of  sweetening,  were  plainly  incorrigible  and 
their  wailing  but  brought  punishment,  a  new  coat  of  white- 
wash for  the  institutional  feeding  trough,  perhaps  a  change 
of  handle  for  the  purse,  until  Judge  Henry  Niel's  effort 
brought  about  the  first  Mother's  Pension  in  Ilhnois.  The 
public  generally  is  bored  by  pictures  of  helpless  poverty 
and  turns  to  pleasanter  things,  so  that  orphans  without 
estates  to  guard  were  easily  lost  in  the  shuffle  of  affairs. 
The  church  with  the  strongest  following  secured  the  largest 
amount  of  appropriation  and  the  greatest  number  of 
charges  for  the  institutions  teaching  their  particular  creed, 
in  violation  often  even  of  constitutional  prohibition  on  the 
use  of  public  money,  in  private,  sectarian  schools  or 
asylums.  Children  were  consigned  by  courts  to  institutions 
without  regard  for  their  religious  belief  and  the  iron  clad 
rule  of  worship  in  the  institutional  home  had  to  be 
conformed  to  though  many  times  it  was  like  making  a 
round  peg  fit  in  a  square  hole.  Thus  in  States  where  the 
taxpayer's  money  is  appropriated  to  institutions  instead  of 
t-^'  rvothers  many  things  may  be,  and  are  considered  before 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  15 

the  hearts,  souls,  developing  characters  and  physical  needs 
of  the  children. 

It  has  been  shown  that  it  costs  seventy  six  per  cent 
of  the  amounts  appropriated  to  institutions  for  the  care 
of  children  to  administer  the  donation.  Salaries,  salaries 
everywhere,  while  the  orphans  are  in  uniforms,  brow 
beaten,  underfed,  treated  in  bunches,  numbered  and  tagged, 
filed  in  their  proper  compartments  from  a  to  z ;  then,  with 
all  spirit  and  pride,  human  emotion  and  ambition  well 
pressed  out,  each  in  turn  at  maturity  comes  to  the  great 
outside  not  understanding  and  not  understood.  The  spirit 
of  initiative,  the  backbone  of  independence  and  the  germ 
of  originality  never  grew  or  thrived  in  an  institution  with 
the  label  of  charity  on  its  machinery.  There  are  good 
mothers,  bad  mothers  and  indifferent  mothers,  but  there 
is  but  one  brand  of  institutional  mother  created  in 
charitable  dispensaries  and  she  is  the  heartless,  soulless, 
fictional  mother,  with  no  soul  to  save  and  no  heart  to 
respond,  the  embodiment  of  a  system. 

It  has  taken  centuries  of  civilization  to  bring 
appreciation  of  the  obligation  of  the  government  to 
children.  In  the  mad  race  for  place  and  power  and  position 
creation  was  too  prone  to  overlook  those  who  could  be 
kicked  out  of  the  way.  There  was  a  time  in  England  when 
children  were  not  provided  with  free  education  in  any 
form,  when  children  of  the  poor  were  sold  into  service, 
apprenticed  under  rules  which  spelt  absolute  bondage,  and 
if  convicted  of  stealing,  regardless  of  tender  years,  they 
were  condemned  to  the  extreme  penalty  and  publicly 
hanged  by  the  neck  until  dead.  It  is  a  matter  of  history 
that  in  this  country  less  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  in  1829 
in  fact,  there  was  an  uprising  of  citizens  in  Philadelphia, 
the  City  of  Brotherly  Love,  to  resist  the  establishment  of 
free  public  schools,  the  people  declaring  it  unfair  that  a 
man  should  be  taxed  for  the  education  of  the  children  of 
his  neighbor.     It  was  even  argued  from  public  rostrums 


16  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

that  the  proposed  schools  at  public  expense  would  demoralize 
the  community  and  that  men  would  grow  lazy  if  not 
called  on  to  work  in  order  to  pay  for  the  education  of  their 
offspring,  thus  the  high  standards  of  vigorous  citizenship 
\-/or.kl  be  undermined.  But  a  reasoning  people,  after  a 
hundred  years  contemplation  of  broadening  legislation  for 
the  benefit  of  children  finds  that  child  poverty  is  the  chief 
cause  of  mental  defectives,  delinquents  and  criminals  and 
the  most  expensive  waste  which  the  taxpayer  supports. 
It  was  Illinois  which  enacted  the  first  Mother's  Pension 
law.  There  are  now  twenty  six  States  which  have  similai" 
laws  and  in  1916  more  than  twelve  million  dollars  passed 
directly  to  mothers  for  the  care  of  children  who  would, 
but  for  the  mother's  pension  system,  have  been  forced  into 
institutions.  In  1911  Judge  Henry  Niel  learned  that  the 
sum  of  ten  dollai's  per  month  was  paid  by  the  county  tax 
fund  in  Illinois  to  institutions  for  the  care  of  oiphans 
consigned  by  the  courts  to  their  keeping.  "Why  is  the 
money  not  paid  to  the  mother  so  she  could  maintain  the 
children  at  home"  asked  the  judge?  But  poor  children 
being  everybody's  business,  and  everybody's  business  being 
nobody's  business,  there  v/as  no  answer  for  Judge  Niel's 
question.  Realizing  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  amounts 
appropriated  went  to  pay  high  salaried  institutional 
employees  Judge  Niel  determined  to  seek  a  change  for  the 
benefit  of  orphans  and  he  went  to  the  legislature  and  asked 
an  amendment  to  the  Juvenile  Court  Act,  the  amendment 
reading : 

"If  the  parent  or  parents  of  such  neglected  or  depen- 
dent child  are  poor  and  unable  to  care  for  said  child,  but 
are  otherwise  proper  guardians,  and  it  is  for  the 
welfare  of  such  child  that  it  remain  at  home,  the 
court  may  enter  an  order  finding  such  facts  and 
fixing  the  amount  of  money  necessary  to  enable  the 
parent  oi-  parents  to  properly  care  for  such  child, 
and   thereupon   it   shall   be   the   duty  of  the   County 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  17 

Board,  through  its  County  Agent,  or  otherwise,  to  pay 
to  such  agent  or  parents,  at  such  times  as  said  order 
may  designate,  the  amount  so  specified  for  the  care 
of  such  dependent  or  neglected  child  until  further 
order  of  the  court." 

Otto  McFeely  relates  the  following  story: 
"The  law  was  to  go  into  effect  on  July  1st,  1911  and 
on  June  the  first.  Judge  Niel  was  in  the  Juvenile  court  of 
Chicago.  A  mother  sat  weeping  inside  the  rail  which 
barred  out  the  general  public,  in  her  arms  an  infant  and 
two  children  clinging  to  her  skirts.  The  court  was  about 
to  take  the  children  from  her  and  to  send  them  to  an 
asylum  because  she  was  unable  to  provide  for  them.  The 
story  drawn  from  the  woman  showed  she  was  a  well 
educated  woman  who  but  ten  months  before  had  lived  in 
a  comfortable  home  and  was  well  provided  for  by  her 
husband.  The  couple  had  not  only  lived  comfortably  but 
they  had  saved  five  hundred  dollars  which  they  v/ere 
planning  to  put  into  a  first  payment  on  a  home  when  the 
husband,  an  employee  in  a  steel  mill,  was  killed.  The 
woman  had  to  pay  the  funeral  expenses  incurred  for  her 
husband  and  with  the  remainder  of  their  little  hoard  she 
opened  a  small  boarding  house,  failed  in  her  venture,  and 
had  no  further  means  to  pay  for  shelter  and  food  for  her- 
self and  her  children.  Charity  experts,  the  judge,  and 
solicitous  lawyers,  heard  the  woman's  plea  that  she  could 
get  sewing  to  do  at  home  which  would  help  to  keep  her 
children,  but  they  decided  that  her  individual  effort  would 
not  assure  subsistence  for  the  three  children  and  agreed 
the  only  possible  thing  to  do  was  to  send  the  children  to 
an  institution.  "I  will  pay  her  a  pension  until  July  1st," 
declared  Judge  Niel,  "and  then  she  can  get  the  regular 
mother's  pension."  The  proposal  was  accepted  and  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  America  the  State  had  stepped 
in  to  preserve  the  family  which  was  about  to  be  broken 
up  because  of  the  crime  of  poverty." 


18  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

"It  is  cheaper  to  hire  the  mother  to  care  for  her 
own  children  than  to  pay  institutions"  declaimed  Judge 
Niel,  and  he  proved  it  by  facts  and  figures  the  result  of 
much  patient  investigation  and  study.  "It  is  more  human. 
Children  reared  by  their  own  mothers  will  make  good 
citizens.  It  is  folly  to  spend  money  for  public  schools 
and  try  to  educate  children  who  are  not  properly  fed, 
clothed  and  cared  for.  The  physical  and  mental  defective, 
the  incompetents  and  the  criminal  element  are  largely 
produced  by  child  poverty.  Money  paid  for  mother's 
pensions  to  abolish  child  poverty  returns  in  the  reduced 
cost  of  hospitals,  police,  courts,  jails  and  asylums." 

There  have  been  repeated  amendments  to  the  amend- 
ment first  passed  by  the  Illinois  Legislature  in  1911  and 
the  law  as  it  now  stands  reads: 

"A  woman  whose  husband  is  dead,  or  permanently 
disabled  by  physical  or  mental  infirmity,  who  has 
resided  in  the  county  for  three  years  and  is  the 
mother  of  a  child  or  children,  may  file  an  application 
for  relief.  If  after  investigation  and  hearings  the 
appeal  is  accepted  an  allowance  may  be  made  to  the 
mother  not  exceeding  fifteen  dollars  a  month  for  one 
child  under  fourteen,  nor  ten  dollars  a  month  for 
each  of  the  other  children — in  no  event  to  exceed 
sixty  dollars  a  month.  Relief  may  be  granted  for  a 
child  over  fourteen  and  under  sixteen  if  the  child  is 
ill  01'  incapacitated  for  work,  such  relief  to  cease  with 
the  removal  of  the  incapacity. 

Before  relief  is  granted  the  following  facts  must 
be  ascertained;  that  the  children  are  living  with  their 
mother,  and  that  it  is  for  their  welfare  that  they 
remain  with  her;  that  without  such  relief  the  mother 
would  be  required  to  work  regulai'ly  away  from  home 
but  that  with  it  she  can  remain  at  home  with  her 
children,  except  for  such  definite  number  of  days  each 
week  as  may  be  specified  in  the  order  of  court  during 


I  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  19 

which  she  may  perform  such  work  as  can  be  done 
without  sacrifice  of  health,  or  neglect  of  her  home; 
that  the  mother  is  a  fit  person  to  care  for  her  children; 
that  she  is  not  the  owner  of  real  or  personal  property, 
except  household  goods;  that  she  is  a  citizen  of  the 
country  or  has  made  declaration  of  her  intention  to 
become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  has 
resided  for  three  years  in  the  county  where  such 
application  is  made  and  is  the  mother  of  a  child  or 
children." 

The  law  which  provides  for  a  fund  out  of  which 
destitute  mothers  are  so  pensioned  that  they  may  keep  their 
children,  care  for  and  educate  them,  does  not  attract  that 
predjudice  or  jealousy  towards  it  which  would  naturally 
arise  where  the  beneficiary  is  a  matter  of  choice  or 
political  preference  and  the  apprehension  that  interests 
might  be  promoted  at  the  sacrifice,  or  to  the  injury  of 
others  whose  interests  should  be  equally  regarded.  It  is 
universally  understood  to  be  one  of  the  implied  and 
necessary  conditions  upon  which  men  enter  into  society 
and  form  governments,  that  sacrifices  must  sometimes  be 
required  of  individuals  for  the  general  benefit  of  the 
community.  A  law  therefore  enacted  for  the  common 
good  of  the  community  in  taking  indigent  orphans  from 
institutions  and  giving  the  care  to  the  mothers,  with  the 
fee  formerly  paid  to  the  institutions,  while  possibly  cramp- 
ing a  few  purses,  is  so  obviously  for  the  public  benefit  it 
njust  meet  general  acquiesence. 

It  is  assuredly  a  grim  tragedy  when  children  are  bom 
into  or  are  reduced  to  poverty,  and  it  is  a  still  more  tragic 
sequence  when  they  ai'e  deprived  of  such  support  as  theii 
father's  could  give,  but  the  poor  children  who  have  neither 
father  nor  mother  and  so  face  the  only  alternative  care, 
asylum  life,  are  the  most  pathetic  figures  in  human  affairs. 
They  should  not  be  forgotten  while  the  fight  goes  on  for 
the  mothers  who  need  financial  aid  to  keep  and  care  for 


20  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

their  offspring,  and  there  should  be  nowhere  in  the  land 
a  private  institution,  or  an  institution  of  any  kind, 
character  or  description,  not  open  to  public  investigation 
and  not  under  the  surveillance  of  State  officials.  The 
poorest  and  meanest  and  most  forlorn  children  should  be 
the  object  of  the  State's  care  and  protection — they  are  the 
citizens  of  tomorrow  and  whether  they  are  good  citizens 
or  bad  citizens  is  dependent  upon  the  proportion  of  decent 
treatment,  education,  training  and  happiness  which  has 
gone  into  their  making.  Property  rights  are  so  generously 
surrounded  with  legal  regulation  every  possible  question 
or  phase  arising  out  of  or  appertaining  thereto  can  be 
found  in  cases  precedent  and  a  lawyer  has  but  to  turn  to 
his  Code  and  the  Annual  Reports  to  be  armed  for  his 
client's  protection  of  monetary  interests.  The  property  of 
minors  is  hedged  round  with  much  care  and  consideration 
and  their  tutorship  or  guardianship,  when  there  is  an 
estate  to  administer,  meets  the  gravest  protection,  but 
the  bodies  and  minds,  the  health  and  happiness  of  destitute 
children  might  receive  more  legal  attention  without  bring- 
ing our  legislative  bodies  under  investigation  for  mad 
generosity.  A  perfunctory  visit  is  made  by  this  or  that 
Board  to  institutions  harboring  penniless  orphans,  and, 
the  announcement  of  the  visit  having  preceded  there  is  a 
visitors  polish  put  on  everything  and  the  children  look 
happy,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  such  callers  mean 
an  extra  portion  of  food  and  perhaps  a  sweet  or  two. 
Many  States  require  that  a  married  woman  be  examined 
separate  and  apart  from  her  husband  when  she  seeks  au- 
thority to  convey  or  mortgage  her  separate  property,  but  no 
State  requires  that  helpless  and  defenseless  orphans  be 
examined  separately  and  apart  from  institutional  employees 
while  a  competent  court  decides  if  the  care  and  kindness  is 
accorded  which  the  law  presumes. 

Amos  Pinchot  says  of  the  Mother's  Pension :    "Poverty 
is  the  curse  of  civilization.     Child  poverty  is  the  worst 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  21 

kind  of  poverty.  If  you  strike  a  sapling  with  an  axe  it 
may  live,  but  it  will  grow  up  a  scarred  tree.  If  you  give 
a  child  a  bad  start  you  cannot  expect  it  to  become  a  strong 
man  or  woman  or  a  first  rate  citizen.  That  is  why  the 
Mother's  Pension  is  fundamental.  We  want  to  place 
American  children  beyond  the  necessity  for  charity — to 
have  them  grow  up  in  their  homes,  to  have  the  State  give 
the  widowed  mother  enough  money  to  raise  her  family 
independent  of  the  bounty  of  the  rich.  This  is  nothing  but 
hard  common  sense.  It  ought  to  have  been  done  half  a 
century  ago." 

WOMEN  LAWYERS 

The  history  of  the  admission  of  women  to  the  Bar  in 
the  United  States  dates  back  to  the  late  60's.  Since 
Deborah  judged  Israel  women  have  evidenced  their 
capability  to  interpret  and  apply  law  but  it  was  deemed 
a  very  radical  step  when  women  aspired  to  the  profession. 
Mrs.  Emma  Haddock,  wife  of  Judge  Haddock,  of  Iowa  City, 
Iowa,  was  addmitted  to  the  bar  in  1869  and  in  the  same 
year  Mrs.  B.  A.  Mansfield  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  of 
the  same  State.  The  Legal  News  of  Feb  9th,  1870  said: 
'Tn  1869  Mrs.  B.  A.  Mansfield  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  of 
Iowa  under  a  Statute  providing  that  "any  white  male 
person"  with  the  requisite  qualifications  should  be  licensed 
to  practice  by  virtue  of  a  statute  providing  that  words 
imputing  the  masculine  gender  only,  may  be  extended  to 
females,  and  the  court  held  that  the  afirmative  declaration 
that  m^ale  persons  may  be  admitted  is  not  an  implied  denial 
to  the  right  of  females." 

In  1869  Phoebe  Couzins  was  admitted  to  the  Law 
School  of  Washington  University  at  St.  Louis  and  when 
she  graduated  from  the  institution  in  1871  she  applied  for 
and  v/as  admitted  to  all  the  courts  of  the  State  of 
Missouri.    The  Legal  News  said  of  this:  "Missouri,  under 


22  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

a  statute  providing-  that  any  person  possessing  the 
necesary  qualifications  may  be  licensed  and  admitted  to  the 
courts,  including  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State,  in  April 
1870,  admitted  Miss  Barkalow  and  Miss  Phoebe  Couzins." 

Maine,  under  a  similar  statute  admitted  Mrs.  C.  H. 
Nash,  in  1872  and  in  the  District  of  Columbia  in  1870  Mrs. 
Belva  Lockwood  was  admitted. 

Mrs.  Myra  Bradwell,  editor  of  The  Legal  News,  and  a 
woman  of  much  varied  information  and  accomplishments, 
after  much  preparation  and  study  applied  to  the  Bar  of 
Chicago,  Illinois,  for  an  examination  and  a  license  to 
practice  law.  Her  application  was  refused  on  the  ground 
that  she  was  a  married  woman.  She  took  the  matter  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  for  a  decision, 
and,  lost  her  cause.  Later  Alta  Hulett,  a  young  woman  of 
Rockford,  Illinois,  after  careful  preparation  in  a  law  ofRce 
presented  her  application  for  examination  and  admission 
and  was  refused.  Miss  Hulett  prepared  a  lecture,  "Justice 
vs.  The  Supreme  Court,"  and  travelled  about  the  State  of 
Illinois  giving  her  discussion  until  she  earned  sufficient 
money  to  prosecute  her  campaign  for  a  legislative  enact- 
ment which  would  allow  women  to  be  admitted  to  the  Bai' 
of  Illinois.  The  following  Bill  was  finally  passed  by  the 
Legislature,  and  under  its  provisions  Miss  Hulett  again 
presented  her  application  and,  successfully  passing  the 
examination  required,  she  was  admitted  and  was  the  first 
woman  to  come  to  the  Bar  of  Illinois. 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  that  no  person  shall 
be  precluded  or  debarred  from  any  occupation,  profession 
or  employment  (except  military)  on  account  of  sex. 
Provided  that  this  act  shall  not  be  construed  to  affect  the 
eligibility  of  any  person  to  an  elective  office." 

Prior  to  1900  there  were- no  women  lawyers  in  Europe, 
and  though  the  first  woman  came  to  the  Bar  of  this  country 
in  1869  it  was  a  full  quarter  of  a  centui-y  before  a  scant  half 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  23 

dozen  were  in  active  practice  in  the  United  States.  The 
announcement  that  a  case  would  be  argued  by  a  woman 
brought  gaping  crowds  as  when  a  circus  arrived  in  town. 
It  was  a  mild  sensation  when  Mrs.  Belva  Lockwood  was 
presented  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  and  there 
with  force,  ability  and  dignity,  presented  and  won  a  case. 

In  1900  France  admitted  women  to  the  Bar  and  they 
are  now  practicing  before  the  Tribunal  of  Commerce,  all 
civil  and  criminal  courts.  Military  Courts,  Courts  of  Appeal 
and  Childrens'  Courts,  and  in  1916  there  were  thirty  six 
registered  women  lawyers  in  active  practice  in  Paris. 

There  are  some  of  the  countries  of  Europe  where 
women  are  not  permitted  to  enter  the  law  colleges  or  to 
practice  in  the  courts  and  it  goes  v/ithout  saying  they  are 
the  countries  in  the  rear  of  the  great  march  of  Progress, 
Bulgaria  is  an  instance.  Turkey  also  excludes  women  from 
the  courts  as  counsel  but  any  woman  may  appear  and 
present  her  own  case.  In  Russia  women  ambitious  to 
practice  law  have  had  a  long  fight  and  their  patience  and 
perseverance  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  beginning 
of  1917,  though  at  times  excluded  even  from  admission  to 
the  law  schools  of  Russia,  there  were  nearly  two  hundred 
women  who  had  the  legal  education  and  degree  to  make 
them  eligible  to  practice,  a  majority  having  graduated 
from  French  Universities,  and  they  combined  their  work 
for  recognition  in  two  associations,  one  in  Petrograd  and 
one  in  Moscow.  It  was  in  1906  they  were  admitted  in  the 
law  colleges  of  Russia  to  study,  under  certain  limitations, 
but  this  privilege  was  withdrawn  in  1908  and  they  wei'e 
expelled  from  the  institutions.  The  oppression  felt  through- 
out the  country  evolved  and  developed  the  desire  for  legal 
education  to  take  before  tribunals  of  justice  the  wrongs  of 
the  masses.  Believing  always  that  the  people  would  in 
time  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  oppressors  women  continued 
to  seek  legal  education  in  other  countries  and  to  pursue 
the  study  of  law  under  the  tutelage  of  private  instructors. 


24  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

Between  1908  and  1910  there  was  much  agitation  of  the 
demand  for  admission  of  women  to  the  law  classes  in  the 
universities  and  again  they  were  given  permission  to  enroll 
in  the  law  departments  of  the  colleges  and  the  right  was 
assured  them  by  a  decree  of  the  Minister  of  Education  to 
examinations  the  same  as  those  given  male  students.  It 
is  of  record,  however,  that  in  the  same  year  a  woman 
appeared  in  court  in  a  criminal  case  and  the  Chief  Justice 
left  the  room  to  evidence  his  disapprobation  and  protest. 
Relating  the  varied  difficulties  experienced  by  women  in 
their  effort  to  secure  recognition  as  lawyers  in  Russia  Mile. 
Justine  Klotz,  a  brilliantly  educated  young  Parisian  woman 
lawyer  says  in  the  Women  Lawyers  Journal:  "In  1910  the 
representatives  of  the  Progressive  Party  introduced  in 
the  Douma  a  bill  which  would  enable  women  to  be  admitted 
to  the  Bar.  During  the  dicussion  the  Progressive  Party 
and  the  Centre  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  the  bill; 
however  no  definite  action  was  taken.  Delegations  of 
women  law  students  had  several  interviews  with  represent- 
atives of  the  Department  of  Justice.  Every  one  of -them 
declared  clearly  in  favor  of  the  reform  advocated  in  the 
bill.  Feb.  20,  1912,  a  Proposition  of  Law,  'Rights  for 
Women  Lawyers'  was  introduced  in  the  Douma.  In  May 
the  Douma  discussed  and  favorably  acted  upon  the  Propo- 
sition. The  report  of  this  discussion  tritely  says  how  easy 
it  was  to  deprive  the  people  of  rights  who  have  no  status 
before  the  law,  and  clearly  states  that  the  Law  Sto.tutes  of 
1864  do  not  mention  any  prohibition  as  to  the  admittance  of 
women  to  the  Bar." 

In  December  1913  the  Commission  of  the  Imperial 
Council  accepted  the  Proposition  of  Law  concei^ning  "The 
Rights  of  Women  Lawyers,"  but  in  1915  the  Proposition 
was  abrogated  by  the  Council  and  a  new  Propositi o'l  of  Law 
relating  to  women  lawyers  was  introduced  as  follows: — 
"1.  Women  are  enabled  to  act  as  lawyers.  2.  Wom.en 
have  equal  right  with  men  to  be  eligible  to  the  jury." 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  25 

This  new  Proposition  was  discussed  at  various  times  until 
1916  when  it  was  finally  rejected.  Most  of  the  women 
lawyers  who  compose  the  lawyers  association  of  Petrograd 
and  Moscow  received  their  degrees  in  Paris  or  elsewhere. 
Mile.  Klotz  says:  "As  to  the  admission  of  women  lawyers 
to  the  Bar  of  Russia,  nobody  believes  that  the  profession 
should  be  closed  to  them;  and  as  the  reform  is  advocated 
by  the  majority  of  the  Douma,  the  Bar  Association  and 
public  opinion,  there  is  hope  that  in  the  near  future  women 
lawyers  will  be  practicing  in  Russia  the  same  as  men."  This 
belief  of  Mile  Klotz  was  prophetic  in  view  of  the  prompt 
recognition  given  to  women  as  the  absolute  equal  of  men 
in  all  civil  rights  and  obligations  as  the  first  immediate 
result  of  the  success  of  the  revolution  which  deposed  the 
Czar. 

Sweden  admits  only  unmarried  women  to  the  Bar  it 
being  the  Swedish  belief  that  married  women  are  not  free 
agents  and  so  they  cannot  properly  represent  the  interest 
of  clients.  British  India  refused  permission  to  Miss  Guha, 
a  woman  lawyer  who  had  taken  her  degree,  to  admission 
to  the  Bar  in  1916. 

Italy  permits  women  to  take  the  degree  of  Law  in  her 
colleges  but  the  courts  have  not  been  opened  to  them  for 
practice.  Thus,  like  the  girl  who  begged  permission  to  go 
out  to  swim  and  was  told  "Yes,  my  dearest  daughter,  hang 
your  clothes  on  a  hickory  limb,  but  don't  go  near  the  water," 
the  privilege  of  the  degree  of  law  and  the  refusal  of 
permission  to  practice,  gives  something  and  witholds  much. 

Australia  permits  women  to  take  the  degree  of  law  in 
the  colleges,  permits  them  to  practice  and  they  have 
conducted  trials  to  a  successful  conclusion  in  that  country. 
Switzerland  admits  women  as  practicing  lawyers  in  her 
courts  and  there  are  women  appearing  in  Zurich,  Geneva 
and  some  of  the  Cantons.  In  1913  the  first  woman  lawyer 
to  break  into  the  courts  of  Portugal  was  Dr.  Regina 
Quintelitza,  and  her  conduct  of  a  case  at  Lisbon,  which 


26  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

she  won,  was  so  brilliant  as  to  cause  a  sensation.  Women 
may  study  law  and  take  degrees  in  the  colleges  of 
Roumania  but  they  have  not  yet  received  permission  to 
practice  in  the  courts,  that  privilege  having  been  expressly 
denied  to  Madam  Melie  Negrutel  in  1912.  Agnes 
McWhinney  is  a  well  known  and  successful  practicing 
lawyer  in  the  courts  of  Australia  and  in  New  Zealand 
women  are  on  the  same  footing  as  men  in  the  law  courts. 
Late  in  1916,  Nativedad  Alemeda,  a  young  woman  who  had 
taken  her  degree  in  law  in  a  New  York  College,  returned 
to  the  Phillipine  Islands  and  was  there  admitted  to  practice 
in  all  of  the  courts  of  the  Islands.  Some  time  later  she 
took  a  case  on  appeal  to  the  highest  court  in  Manilla,  wrote 
her  own  briefs  and  argued  the  case,  securing  a  judgment 
in  favor  of  her  clients. 

The  women  lawyers  of  England  have  made  a  long  and 
fierce  fight  for  admission  to  the  bar.  They  have  won  the 
right  to  study  in  all  of  the  colleges  except  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  but  they  are  barred  from  practicing  law  by 
statutory  enactment. 

In  the  United  States  women  have  been  admitted  to 
practice  law  in  all  but  two  of  the  States,  Virginia  and 
Arkansas.  Late  in  1916  Georgia  passed  the  "Portia  Bill" 
which  enabled  women  to  practice  in  all  of  the  courts  of  the 
State,  which  up  to  that  time  had  denied  them  the  right. 

Illinois  has  a  Woman's  Bar  Association  which  has  a 
standing  in  that  State  quite  equal  to  the  similar  association 
of  men.  Boston  has  an  organization  of  women  lawyers 
and  there  are  other  associations  of  women  of  the  legal 
profession  but  the  only  body  of  national  scope  is  the 
Woman  Lawyers  Association  which  meets  in  New  York 
monthly  at  the  rooms  of  the  County  Lawyers  Association. 
It  counts  members  in  every  State  where  women  have  been 
admitted  to  the  Bar  and  has  a  total  membership  of  more 
than  two  hundred  women.  The  President  of  the 
Association,    Olive  Stott  Gabriel,  a  graduate  of  the  New 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  27 

York  University  law  department  and  native  of  Oregon, 
has  done  much  to  secure  for  women  at  the  Bar  the 
consideration  to  which  they  are  entitled  and  has  used  her 
effort  for  the  interest  and  advancement  of  women  lawyers 
in  the  several  States  wherever  possible,  demonstrating  the 
advantage  of  an  affiliated  body,  when  it  has  an  unselfish, 
aggressive  and  efficient  head.  The  organization  has  a 
"Grievance  Committee"  to  which  any  complaint  of  a 
member  is  referred  and  the  association  requires  that  the 
highest  professional  ethics  be  maintained  by  its  members. 
The  spirit  of  the  Woman  Lawyers  Association  seems 
well  in  line  with  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Matthew 
Arnold  when  he  said: 

'Tf  ever  the  world  sees  a  time  when  women  shall 
come  together  purely  and  simply  for  the  benefit  and 
good  of  mankind,  it  will  be  a  power  such  as  the  world 
has  never  known." 

The  whole  fabric  of  the  association  motive  is  that  of 
good  will  to  women,  the  furtherance  of  laws  which  will 
benefit  women  and  children  and  the  fellowship  of  a  high 
and  noble  profession.  Mrs.  Gabriel,  discussing  the  aim  of 
women  lawyers  toward  better  legislation  says: 

"Woman's  chief  interest  is,  first  and  foremost,  of 
the  children.  With  primitive  woman  this  interest 
centered  entirely  in  her  own  offspring,  but  organized 
womanhood  has  evolved  or  developed  a  spirit  of 
universal  motherhood,  and  the  women's  club  once 
criticized  and  condemned  as  the  menace  of  the  home 
has  come  to  be  recognized  as  the  agent  of  home 
extension  as  well  as  home  making,  the  friend  and 
guardian  of  defenseless  little  ones  and  the  sworn  ally 
of  t'e  public  school  system.  Women  lawyers,  individ- 
ually and  in  their  association  seek  untiringly  for  laws 
to  protect  and  defend  the  home,  for  clean  milk  for  the 
'  n.u^e3,  home  economics,  sanitation,  education,  pure 
drinking  water  and   a  better  moral   standard.     They 


28  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

seek  civil  service  reforai,  opportunities  for  industrial 
training-  and  knowledge  of  parliamentary  law.  We 
have,"  she  says  "a  close  walk  with  nature,  a  better 
understanding  of  art,  literature  and  music,  a  wider 
outlook  upon  life,  a  broader  vision,  deepened 
sympathies  and  an  optimistic  faith  in  a  future  big  with 
promise  for  women  because  of  our  legal  education  and 
our  opportunities  to  come  in  close  contact  with  every- 
thing worth  while  in  the  march  of  a  progressive 
civilization." 

Illinois  has  as  an  assistant  Attorney  General  a  woman 
lawyer  and  Arizona  has  similarly  honored  a  woman  of  the 
profession.  Lita  Belle  Hibbin  is  deputy  District  Attorney 
at  Los  Angeles,  California,  and  Annette  Adams  is  assistant 
United  States  District  Attorney  for  the  northern  district 
of  the  same  State.  Other  western  States  have  women  in 
public  office  where  legal  training  is  necessary — there  are 
Public  Defenders,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Judges  of 
Childrens'  Courts  and  women  acting  in  other  judicial 
capacity. 

Clarice  M.  Baright,  came  out  openly  in  1910  as  an 
applicant  for  appointment  as  Judge  of  the  Children's  Court 
of  New  York  City.  The  move  made  many  gasp,  for  the 
political  environment  of  the  official  family  of  the  great 
city  seemed  to  exclude  women,  if  for  no  other  reason  than 
the  fact  they  could  not  vote.  However,  Mrs.  Baright  went 
almost  daily  to  the  Children's  Courts  to  familiarize  herself 
with  the  work  required  of  a  judge,  and  no  less  with  the 
work  required  to  bring  the  children  appearing  before  that 
Bar  into  the  way  of  being  good  and  law  abiding  citizens, 
and  she  won,  step  by  step,  the  endorsement  of  lawyers 
and  laymen. 

Nellie  Carlin,  a  leading  woman  lawyer  of  Illinois,  was 
-appointed  in  1915  to  the  post  of  Public  Guardian  of  Cook 
County    and    at    no    time    since    her    incumbency    of  the 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  29 

office  has  there  been  less  than  a  thousand  estates  of  minors 
in  her  custody  and  care. 

Judge  Reah  Whitehead,  is  Seattle,  Washington's 
woman  judge.  Miss  Whitehead  is  very  modest,  she  says: 
"I  have  no  ambition  higher  than  the  justice's  court.  People 
seem  to  think  that  when  a  woman  steps  into  some  public 
position  she  expects  to  hurdle  along  and  be  President  of 
the  United  States.  I'm  not  bothering  my  head  about  any- 
thing except  the  business  of  my  court.  I  believe  there  is 
plenty  need  for  women  on  the  bench."  Judge  Whitehead 
heard  in  the  first  year  of  her  incumbency  of  the  office 
sixteen  hundred  civil  cases  and  five  hundred  and  seventy 
criminal  cases.  She  says:  "Women  pioneers  in  the  law 
are  not  on  the  defensive.  I  don't  believe  that  the  world 
should  expect  that  the  women  v/ho  are  on  the  bench  or 
who  are  practicing  law  should  produce  any  great  judges 
or  particularly  brilliant  lawyers  for  some  time  to  come. 
Occasionally  there  are  brilliant  men  in  these  fields,  but 
you  must  remember  that  for  years  and  years  and  hundreds 
of  years  men  have  made  the  laws  and  men  have  passed  on 
the  interpretation  of  man-made  laws.  Until  women  have 
an  actual  hand  in  the  framing  of  the  laws,  the  point  of 
view  between  men  and  women  judges  and  men  and  women 
lawyers  will  be  different.  There  is  no  man's  world  and 
woman's  world  as  separate  planets.  We  are  living  in  the 
same  world.  But  the  point  of  view  of  men  differs  from 
that  of  women  and  until  laws  are  framed  with  a  common 
idea  of  justice,  it  is  not  likely  that  women  will  produce 
the  proportion  of  brilliant  legal  lights  that  comes  from 
the  ranks  of  men." 

Judge  L.  L.  Fawcett,  of  the  County  Court  (of  Brooklyn, 
New  York)  declared  in  an  open  letter  in  favor  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  woman  to  the  bench : 

"It   is   my   belief   that   a   woman   having   ten   years' 
experience  as  a  practicing  attorney  in  conjunction  with 


30  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

the  innate  qualifications  and  wisdom  of  her  sex,  would 
bring-  an  added  asset  to  the  bench  that  would  material- 
ly aid  in  the  solution  of  the  all  important  problems 
involving  the  disposition  of  the  cases  of  children,  for, 
as  a  rule  a  woman's  understanding  and  knowledge  of 
children  is  better  than  that  of  a  man.     Women  seem 
to  intuitively  know  the  shortcomings  of  children  and 
with  instructive  "mother  judg"ment"  provide  the  proper 
corrective  treatment  for  the  av,akening  of  conscience 
and  reformation  of  the  bad  child." 
Katherine  S.  Clark  is  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  at  Oak 
Park,   Illinois   and   Mrs.   John   C.   Duff  occupies  the  same 
office  in  Chinook,  Montana.     In  1914  Mary  Bartelme  was 
raised  from  a  minor  court  office  to  that  of  Associate  Judge 
of   the    Children's    Court   of   Chicago    and    Mrs.    Georgia 
Bullock  is  Judge  of  the  Women's  Court  of  Los  Angeles. 

As  an  instance  of  the  inadvisability  of  forcing  public 
opinion  by  legislation  may  be  cited  the  record  of  Margaret 
Gardner  one  of  the  most  capable,  and  at  the  present  time, 
fully  appi'eciated  women  lawyers  in  this  country.  When 
she  had  graduated  from  a  University,  but  before  she  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar  of  California,  she  was  appointed 
a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  City  Prosecutor  of  Los 
Angeles  at  a  very  small  salary  which,  within  three  months, 
because  of  the  excellent  work  acomplished  was  trebled. 
When  Miss  Gardner  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  she  was 
appointed  Deputy  Prosecutor,  serving  on  an  equal  basis 
with  the  men  attorneys  and  under  the  salary  ordinance 
then  existing.  No  special  legislation  had  been  evoked  to 
give  her  the  position  of  Deputy  Prosecutor,  simply  as  a 
citizen,  as  a  member  of  the  Bar  with  the  necessary 
qualificatioris,  she  was  appointed — and,  made  good,  and  the 
precedent  was  established  of  qualification  being  the  sole 
lequisite.  In  direct  contrast  to  this  is  the  condition  created 
by  the  special  ordinance  which  was  passed  CREATING  the 
office  of  V'OMAN  Deputy  District  Attorney  of  Los  Angeles 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  31 

County.  Under  this  abortive  legislation  there  can  be  but 
one  woman  deputy  District  Attorney  in  the  County  and 
there  cannot  be  more  until  the  law  is  repealed  or  declared 
unconstitutional. 

It  is  no  longer  an  unusual  sight  when  women  appear 
at  the  Bar  of  the  courts  to  plead  cases  and  juries  see  so 
many  women  in  and  about  the  courts  they  take  no  heed 
of  the  female  advocates  as  women  noting  only  the  strength 
or  weakness  of  the  cases  presented.  It  is  to  the  women 
who  blazed  the  path,  those  who  came  to  the  bar  in  the 
early  days  when  women  dared  to  break  into  the  most 
learned  of  professions,  to  whom  all  women  lawyers  owe 
a  never  ending  debt  of  gratitude  and  to  whom  women  of 
all  classes  are  indebted  for  the  better  legal  status  which 
has  evolved  from  the  efforts  of  those  early  torch  bearers. 
Notably  there  is  the  record  of  such  women  as  Phoebe 
Cousins,  Belva  Lockwood,  Ellen  Spencer  Mussey,  Marilla 
Ricker  and  Mary  Elizabeth  Lease,  the  last  named  an 
author,  lawyer,  lecturer  and  publicist.  Thirty  years  ago 
Kansas  was  jarred  to  attention,  and  later  the  whole  nation 
waked  to  an  appreciation,  of  the  young  woman  who  dared 
to  take  the  stump  and  to  send  out  her  wonderful  oratory 
in  behalf  of  certain  needed  reforms.  Mrs.  Lease  began  the 
study  of  law  when  she  was  a  small  girl,  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  Kansas  when  just  twenty  one  and  later  has  been 
recognized  in  the  courts  of  many  of  the  other  States  when 
she  has  appeared  in  cases  of  note.  Mrs.  Lease  was  a 
"homesteader"  and  knew  that  "home"  meant  not  merely 
a  place  of  residence  but  a  sanctuary  erected  upon  the 
foundation  of  toil  and  privation,  and  she  launched  a  cam- 
paign against  excessive  taxation  and  foreclosure,  never 
ceasing  until  her  efforts  caused  an  abatement  of  the  worst 
of  the  troubles  of  those  who  would  maintain  in  security  a 
peraianent  roof  tree  in  her  native  State  of  Kansas.  It  was 
she,  too,  who  was  largely  instrumental  in  bringing  to 
public  attention  the  theory  of  land  as  surety  for  loans  and 


32  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

governmental  aid  for  homesteaders.  It  was  Mrs.  Lease, 
who,  when  placed  by  the  Governor  of  Kansas  in  charge  of 
the  eelemosynary  institutions  of  that  State  swept  it  clean 
of  those  lax  systems  in  the  harbors  for  the  State's  charges 
which  had  led  to  excesses  and  abuse,  and  she  brought 
justice  to  children  and  the  witless,  thus  purging  Kansas 
of  reproach.  It  was  following  this  work,  when  she  was 
called  to  the  National  Conference  of  Eelemosynary 
Educators,  she  was  presented  with  the  bronze  medal  of 
honor. 

Always  Mrs.  Lease  was  the  lawyer,  and  she  went  to 
the  fountain  head  to  secure  proper  reforms,  seeking  the 
law  making  bodies  and  obtaining  corrective  legislation  to 
work  out  the  best  ends. 

Mrs.  Lease  removed  to  New  York  to  enable  her  to 
give  to  her  children  the  best  education  procurable  and  in 
later  years  she  has  lived  at  her  home  in  Flatbush, 
Long  Island,  there  enjoying  the  well  earned  result  of  her 
life  work  and  lending  to  younger  women  at  the  bar  the 
encouragement  of  her  ready  advice  and  stimulating  aid. 
She  has  been  heard  on  the  rostrum  in  every  State  in  her 
stirring  addresses:  "Sinews  of  Suffrage."  The  Constitution 
of  the  Republic,"  "Statesmanship  and  Peace;"  "A  Vision 
and  a  Realization,"  and  "America."  More  recently  she  has 
presented  her  wonderful  sermon-lecture  "As  a  man 
Thinketh  so  is  He,"  and  a  splendid  sj^mposium  on  "The 
Women  of  Shakespeare." 

Then  there  is  in  the  beloved  ranks  of  the  pathfinders 
in  the  law  for  women  Mrs.  Marilla  Ricker.  It  was  in  1882 
she  went  up  with  a  class  of  nineteen  for  examination  for 
admission  to  the  Bar  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  not 
only  passed  the  examination  successfully  but  was  highly 
complimented  on  her  unusual  knowledge  of  the  law,  and 
President  Arthur  appointed  her  United  States  Examiner 
and  Commissioner  in  Chancery  for  the  District  of  Columbia 
a  few  years  later.     She  was  candidate  for  Governor  of 


MARY  ELIZABETH  LEASE 

Pioneer  Woman  Lawyer,  Author,  Publicist  and  Lecturer 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  33 

Massachusetts,  to  which  State  she  liad  removed,  and  she 
practiced  law  at  the  New  Hampshire  bar  a  number  of  years. 
Mrs.  Ricl-ter  has  pubHshed  a  number  of  books,  and  in  her 
seventy  seventh  year  has  just  issued  her  last  work,  a  book 
of  much  merit  on  religious  subjects  entitled  "I  am  Not 
Afraid,  Are  YOU?"  She  spends  maiiy  hours  every  day  at 
her  desk  in  the  Hotel  Parker,  Boston,  Mass.  where  she 
lives. 

Soon  after  President  Wilson  issued  his  proclamation 
declaring  a  state  of  war  existing  between  the  United  States 
and  Germany  the  President  of  the  New  York  State  Bar 
Association  issued  a  call  for  volunteers  from  the  ranks  of 
the  lawyers  to  fill  the  gaps  made  by  reason  of  the  absence 
of  many  lawyers  and  law  clerks  in  military  service.  Among 
the  first  to  heed  the  call  was  the  women  lawyers,  and  a 
number  of  them  organized  the  Women's  Volunteer  Law 
League  and  tendered  their  services  in  response  to  the  call. 
They  put  themselves  whole-heartedly  at  the  command  of  the 
State  Bar  Association  and  its  committees  appointed  to 
handle  the  work  of  supplying  the  places  of  absent  lawyers 
during  the  war. 

All  summed  up  it  spells  this:  Women  lawyers, 
measured  by  their  work,  have  made  good,  indeed  they 
have  made  doubly  good  and  as  an  Exhibit  of  what  women 
in  the  law  can  accomplish  their  record  is  filed. 

MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE 

The  disabilities  of  married  women  seem  incompatible 
with  the  freedom  guaranteed  by  our  Constitution  being 
but  a  step  removed  from  that  condition  which  existed  in 
the  days  of  the  feudal  system  where  it  was  believed  the 
peace  of  the  community  could  only  be  assured  by  the 
dependence  of  the  population  on  feudal  superiors. 
Legislatures  seem  to  have  legislated  all  round  the  subjection 
of  the  wife  to  her  husband.     In  many  States  property 


34  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

rights  have  been  equalized,  but  there  has  been  Httle  change 
in  the  legal  servitude  created  by  lack  of  personal  rights. 
Girls  are  educated  with  the  idea  of  their  marriage  at  or 
about  the  time  of  their  maturity,  approximately  when  the 
age  of  reason  is  reached.  Yet  the  moment  the  girl  marries 
she  renounces  the  very  freedom  which  she  is  supposed  to 
have  attained  by  reaching  her  majority,  places  her  bodily 
and  mental  powers  in  a  state  of  subjection  and  leases 
herself  out  for  life  for  a  mere  board  and  keep. 

It  is  not  the  intent  of  the  law,  or  of  law  makers,  to  dis- 
courage the  contract  of  marriage,  rather  is  it  the  avowed 
"noble  institution"  on  which  the  home  and  nation  is  builded, 
and  in  some  States,  once  that  contract  is  made,  the  law 
makes  it  a  very  hard  agreement  to  dissolve.  In  one  State, 
South  Carolina,  there  is  no  provision  in  the  law  whatever 
for  divorce.  Once  married,  always  married,  is  the  maxim  of 
that  unique  State.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  the  single  woman, 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  has  nearly  all  of  the  rights  of 
the  male,  she  can  contract  and  be  contracted  with  freely, 
she  can  buy  and  transfer  real  proi3erty,  and  she  divests 
'herself  of  these  rights  in  many  States  when  she  becomes  a 
wife. 

Marriage  between  whites  and  pei'sons  of  negro  descent 
is  forbidden  in  Alabama,  Arizona,  Arkansas,  California, 
Colorado,  Delaware,  Florida,  Georgia,  Idaho,  Indiana,  Ken- 
tucky, Louisiana,  Maryland,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Ne- 
fDraska,  North  Carolina,  Oklahoma,  Oregon,  South  Carolina, 
Tennessee,  Texas,  Utah,  Virginia  and  West  Virginia. 

The  States  of  Arizona,  Oregon,  North  Carolina  and 
South  Carolina  forbid  the  marriage  of  whites  and  Indians 
and  Arizona,  California,  Mississippi,  Utah  and  Oregon  for- 
bid the  marriage  of  whites  and  Chinese. 

Marriage  is  also  forbidden  between  first  cousins  in 
Arizona,  Alaska,  Arkansas,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Kansas,  Mis- 
souri, Nevada,  New  Hampshire,  North  Dakota,  Ohio,  Okla- 
homa,  Oregon,   Pennsylvania,  South   Dakota,  Washington 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  35 

and  Wyoming.  Marriage  with  step-father's  and  step-moth- 
er's and  step-brothers  and  sisters  is  forbidden  in  all  of  the 
States  except  Florida,  Iowa,  Kentucky,  Minnesota,  New 
York,  Tennessee  and  Wisconsin.  Minnesota  and  Connecti- 
cut prohibit  the  marriage  of  an  epileptic  woman  or  an  im- 
becile and  the  marriage  of  lunatics  is  void  in  Kentucky, 
Maine,  Massachusetts,  Nebraska  and  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

Adultery  is  ground  for  divorce  in  every  State  but  South 
Carolina. 

The  dissemination  of  information,  based  on  records, 
will  insure  the  effort  of  women  to  secure  legislation  re- 
straining mental  incompetents  from  marrying.  Women  of 
stunted  mental  growth  should  be  safeguarded  from  mar- 
riage and  from  becoming  mothers,  and  it  is  what  may  not  be 
written  and  printed  which  is  the  strongest  argument  against 
permitting  these  unfortunates  to  contribute  to  the  jails 
and  asylums  in  another  generation.  There  could  be  no  more 
pitifully  enlightening  story  than  the  mere  filing  of  the 
records  of  Ward  C.  of  the  Metropolitan  Hospital,  Black- 
well's  Island,  where  there  are  inscriptions  showing  the  "his- 
tory of  inmates  of  the  age  of  thirteen  and  of  twelve 
years,  who  were  mothers,  and  the  reports  of  experts  who 
declared  these  girls  had  the  intelligence  of  children  of  seven 
and  eight  years.  These  girls  were  unmarried  and  their 
babies  were  sometimes  taken  by  relatives,  but  more  fre- 
quently they  had  to  be  sent  to  asylums  to  be  wards  of  the 
State  while  the  mothers  were  sent  to  Randall's  Island,  there 
being  forced  to  mingle  with  women  of  criminal  propensities, 
for  New  York,  like  the  old  woman  who  lived  in  the  shoe  has 
so  many  children  she  doesn't  know  what  to  do  with  them, 
and  there  is  no  place  for  the  mental  defective  brand  of  her 
charges. 

A  residence  of  one  year  is  required  to  permit  divorce 
action  in  Alabama,  Arizona,  Arkansas,  California,  Colorado, 
Delaware,  Georgia,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Louisi- 


36  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

ana,  Maine,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Mississippi,  Missouri, 
Montana,  Nebraska,  New  Mexico,  New  Hampshire,  North 
Dakota,  Ohio,  Oklahoma,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania,  South  Da- 
kota, Texas,  Utah,  Vermont,  Virginia,  Washington,  West 
Virgina,  Wisconsin  and  Wyoming. 

A  residence  of  two  years  is  required  for  divorce  action 
in  Alaska,  Florida,  Indiana,  Maryland,  New  Jersey,  North 
CaroHna,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee  and  Wisconsin. 

A  residence  of  three  years  or  more  is  required  by 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  States  of  Idaho  and  Nevada  increase  their  floating 
population  by  permitting  the  citizen  of  six  months'  resi- 
dence to  sue  in  their  courts  for  divorce.  Residence,  how- 
ever, must  be  actual  and  not  constructive.  The  law  for  this 
short  term  of  residence  in  Nevada,  the  Mecca  for  so  many 
seekers  of  freedom  from  the  bond  of  matrimony,  is  an  old 
one  and  was  passed  in  1861.     It  is  as  follows: 

"Divorce  from  the  bonds  of  matrimony  may  be  obtained 
by  complaint  under  oath  to  the  District  Court  of  the  County 
in  v/hich  the  cause  therefor  shall  have  accrued,  or  in  which 
the  defendant  shall  reside  or  be  found,  or,  in  which  the 
plaintiff  shall  have  resided,  if  the  latter  be  either  the  County 
in  which  the  parties  cohabited  or  in  which  the  plaintiff  shall 
have  resided  six  months  before  the  suit  was  commenced." 

The  reasons  for  divorce  in  Nevada  are  so  many  it  may 
be  said  that  the  only  requirement  is  a  lawyer,  but  the  alle- 
gation most  frequently  made  is  "Desertion,"  or  "Cruelty." 
The  decree  becomes  immediately  effective.  Where  personal 
service  can  be  had  on  the  defendant  the  action  may  be  begun 
without  any  delays  whatever. 

In  an  article  discussing  the  divorce  laws  of  Nevada, 
Felice  Cohn,  a  brilliant  young  Westerner  and  the  only 
woman  lawyer  in  Nevada,  says : 

"The  fact  that  it  requires  but  six  months  to  acquire  a 
residence  in  the  county  in  which  the  suit  is  brought,  added  to 
the  numerous  statutory  grounds  on  which  a  decree  may  be 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  37 

obtained,  has  attracted  the  attention  of  residents  of  other 
States,  and  caused  the  influx  into  Nevada.  Residence  must  be 
actual  and  bona  fide  for  six  months  preceding  the  filing  of  a 
complaint,  not  constructive  as  some  believe.  Absence  out 
of  the  State  during  the  period  indicated  is  closely  scru- 
tinized, and  unless  the  reasons  are  of  the  best,  a  decree  will 
not  be  granted.  Divorce  may  be  obtained  before  the  six 
months  residence  has  accrued  if  personal  service  be  had  on 
the  defendant  in  the  State  of  Nevada,  and  no  collusion  exists. 
Our  laws  are  liberal,  but  more  than  that,  they  are  just, 
and  humane,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  more  States  do 
not  amend  their  laws  to  conform  to  Nevada's.  Better  still 
would  be  a  uniform  divorce  law  in  the  United  States.  Nev/ 
York  sends  more  matrimonial  misfits  to  Nevada  than  any 
other  State,  and  in  most  cases  a  divorce  could  be  obtained  at 
home  but  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  scandal  the  litigants 
come  to  Nevada  to  secure  a  decree  on  any  other  ground 
than  New  York's  lone  ground — adultery.  More  than  four- 
fifths  of  the  decrees  granted  yearly  in  Nevada  are  to  former 
residents  of  other  States  who  come  here  for  the  relief  denied 
them  at  home,  a  condition  of  affairs  which  should  not  exist 
and  will  not  exist  when  laws  are  enacted  in  the  different 
States  giving  adequate  and  prompt  relief  in  deserving 
cases." 

In  Oregon  when  the  defendant  is  not  in  the  State,  and 
personal  service  cannot  be  had,  the  law  requires  service  of 
the  complaint  on  the  District  Attorney  who  must  defend  the 
rights  of  the  absentee.  The  party  to  whom  the  decree  is 
given  is  entitled  to  an  undivided  one-third  of  the  real  prop- 
erty. The  divorced  persons  are  prohibited  from  remarrying 
within  six  months  after  the  decree  and  if  they  go  to  another 
State  and  re-marry  to  avoid  this  restriction,  Oregon  regards 
such  marriage  as  null  within  its  boundaries. 

The  State  of  Louisiana  has  a  long  list  of  reasons  for 
a  decree  of  what  is  known  as  "Separation  from  Bed  and 
Board,"  and  if  the  parties  to  such  decree  have  not  become 


456-73G 


38  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

reconciled  within  one  year  after  it  has  been  granted,  by  a 
simple  motion  showing  this  fact  the  decree  will 
become  one  of  final  divorce.  The  woman  who  is  party  there- 
in is  forbidden  to  re-marry  within  nine  months.  If  the 
defendant  does  not  receive  personal  service  an  attorney  must 
be  appointed  by  the  court  to  represent  his  interest. 

Even  the  Koran  recognized  the  divorce  requirement. 
Mohamet's  Regulations  with  respect  to  wives  was  "I: — 
Never  marry  idolatrous  women  unless  they  will  become  be- 
lievers. A  Mussulman  servant  is  better  than  an  idolatrous 
woman,  though  of  the  highest  rank.  2: — They,  who  hav- 
ing wives,  wish  to  make  a  vow  of  chastity,  shall  wait  four 
months  before  they  decide.  Wives  shall  conduct  themselves 
toward  their  husbands  as  their  husbands  conduct  them- 
selves toward  them.  3: — You  may  separate  yourself  from 
your  wife  twice ;  but  if  you  divorce  her  a  third  time  it  must 
be  forever.  You  must  either  keep  her  humanely  or  put  her 
away  kindly.  You  are  not  permitted  to  keep  anything 
from  her  that  you  have  given  her.  4 : — Good  wives  are  obe- 
dient and  attentive,  even  in  the  absence  of  their  husbands. 
If  your  wife  is  prudent  be  careful  not  to  have  a  quarrel 
with  her;  but  if  one  should  happen  let  an  arbiter  be  chosen 
from  your  own  family,  and  one  from  hers.  5: — Take  one 
wife,  or  two  or  three  or  four,  but  never  more.  But  if  you 
doubt  your  ability  to  act  equitably  toward  several,  take 
only  one.  Give  them  a  suitable  dowry,  take  care  of  them, 
and  speak  to  them  always  like  a  friend.  6: — You  are  not 
permitted  to  inherit  from  your  wife  against  her  will ;  nor  to 
prevent  her  from  marrying  another  after  her  divorce,  in 
order  to  possess  yourself  of  her  dower,  unless  she  has  been 
declared  guilty  of  some  crime.  When  you  choose  to  sepa- 
rate yourself  from  your  wife  and  take  another,  you  must 
not,  though  you  have  given  her  a  talent  at  your  marriage, 
take  anything  from  her.  7 : — You  are  permitted  to  marry 
a  slave,  but  it  is  better  that  you  should  not  do  so.  8: — A 
repudiated  wife  is  obliged  to  suckle  her  child  until  it  is  tv/o 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  39 

years  old,  during  which  time  the  father  is  obliged  to  main- 
tain them  according  to  his  condition.  If  the  infant  is 
weaned  at  an  earlier  period,  it  must  be  with  the  consent  of 
both  father  and  mother.  If  you  are  obliged  to  entrust  it  to 
a  strange  nurse  you  should  make  a  reasonable  allowance." 
And  Voltaire,  speaking  of  the  foregoing  sections  of  the 
Koran  declared :  "Here  is  sufficient  to  reconcile  the  women  to 
Mohamet." 

Any  laxity  in  the  recordation  of  findings  in  a  divorce  suit 
may  have  serious  after  consequences  as  in  the  case  of  Mans- 
coe  vs.  Manscoe,  a  divorce  decree  obtained  in  Indiana  in  the 
early  70's.  In  that  case  Rachel  Manscoe  travelled  from 
Louisiana  to  Indiana  to  sue  her  husband  for  divorce  because 
the  Indiana  laws  then  obtaining  in  Indiana  offered  her  the 
easier  road.  The  decree  was  handed  down  by  the  judge  who 
heard  the  action  and  was  signed  by  him  on  Tuesday,  the 
10th  day  of  May.  Twenty-five  years  later  there  was  inter- 
posed in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Louisiana  the  allegation  that 
a  later  marriage  of  Rachel  Manscoe  to  Edward  Benton  was 
void  because  she  had  married  Benton  before  she  was  divorc- 
ed from  Manscoe.  Depending  on  the  outcome  of  the  pro- 
ceeding was  a  large  estate  and  the  legitimacy  of  several 
children  born  to  the  union  with  Benton.  The  lawyers  for 
the  widow  Benton  sought,  and  succeeded  in  getting,  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  matter,  and  they  hurried  to  Terra  Haute, 
Indiana,  to  try  to  unearth  the  puzzle,  for  the  widow  Benton 
was  firm  in  her  assertion  that  she  had  heard  the  judge  ren- 
der his  decision  in  open  court,  had  been  told  on  the  same  day 
by  her  lawyer  that  the  decree  had  been  duly  signed  and  put 
on  record  and  she  was  given  a  certified  copy  (which  copy  she 
averred  she  had  lost),  and  she  then  immediately  started 
back  South,  stopping  at  Cairo,  Illinois,  where  she  married 
Benton  on  Thursday  of  the  same  week  her  divorce  had  been 
granted.  A  search  of  the  musty  old  records  disclosed  the 
fact  that  the  clerk  of  court  had  followed,  during  his  whole 
term  of  office,  the  method  of  entering  in  his  books  all  decrees 


40  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

of  the  week  on  the  last  day  of  each  week,  hence  the  divorce 
judgment  of  Manscoe  vs.  Manscoe  was  entered  by  him  on 
Saturday,  although  it  was  signed  by  the  judge  on  the  pre- 
ceding Tuesday.  When  the  relatives  attacking  the  widow 
for  a  share  in  the  estate  sent  back  to  Indiana  for  a  cc-i^y 
of  the  decree  of  the  widow  Benton's  divorce  from  her  for- 
mer iiusband  the  clerk  looked  up  the  ancient  books  and  for- 
warded the  copy  as  of  date  of  the  Saturday  of  its  entry, 
Vvhich  clianced  to  be  two  days  after  the  lady  had  manisd 
again,  and  there  was  set  off  the  bomb  in  the  Benton  succes- 
sion suit  which  almost  caused  children  to  be  declared  illegiti- 
mate and  a  fortune  to  go  to  collateral  relatives  instead  of 
to  the  widow  and  heirs  of  Benton. 

Whether  it  is  agreed  that  those  marriages  which  have 
not  resulted  in  that  perfect  union  which  some  people  describe 
as  originating  "in  Heaven"  should  be  dissolved  with  greater 
ease,  sans  ceremoiiie,  or  only  with  great  difficulty  and  by 
overcomhig  many  legal  obstacles,  there  must  be  unanim  ty 
of  opinion  that  the  rule  should  be  uniform  throughout  the 
country  and  the  age  when  marriage  can  be  legally  con- 
tracted should  be  the  same  in  all  of  the  States.  Records 
show  that  a  large  proportion  of  marriages  contracted  -y 
boys  and  girls  of  less  than  eighteen  come  to  grief  and 
the  courts  for  dissolution.  When  boys  and  girls,  in  a  spint 
of  jest,  or  over-photoplay  or  over-novelized  emotion,  can 
take  on  the  serious  obligation  of  the  married  state,  there 
usually  follows  trouble,  too  often  ending  in  spoiled  lives. 
Section  16,  of  the  Domestic  Relations  Law  of  New  York,  re- 
quires the  filing  of  the  written  consent  of  parents  or  guar- 
dians if  the  male  be  less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age 
and  the  female  less  than  eighteen  years  of  age,  with  the  ap- 
plication for  a  license  to  wed,  but  the  round  trip  fare  to  a 
nearby  Gretna  Green  where  lequirements  for  licenses  to 
marry  are  not  especially  scrutinized,  destroys  its  force.  In 
several  of  the  States  a  girl  of  fourteen  may  be  given  in  mar- 
riage, and  in  Tennessee  a  girl  may  marry  at  twelve  years 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  41 

of  age,  yet  no  single  State  permits  a  female  of  less  than 
eighteen  years  of  age  to  make  any  other  valid  contract,  and 
many  of  the  States  require  the  female  to  be  twenty-one 
years  of  age  before  she  can  be  a  party  to  any  form  of  agree- 
ment except  marriage.  Lex  loci  celebrati  contractus.  There  is 
not  in  any  State  any  dictum  or  authority  permitting  the  dis- 
pute of  contracts  made  according  to  the  forms  of  the  State 
where  the  contract  was  made.  Hence  the  law  of  one  State 
requiring  that  a  woman  shall  have  attained  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen years  before  she  can  marry  has  no  intrinsic  force,  pro 
prio  vigore,  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  that  State,  nor  can 
the  marriage  of  children  of  tender  years  be  disputed  by  a 
State  with  a  higher  age  limit  if  the  marriage  was  contracted 
according  to  the  forms  of  law  in  the  State  where  the  cere- 
mony was  performed. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  civilized  mothers  anywhere  would 
sanction  the  statutory  permission  to  marry  at  less  than  the 
age  of  maturity,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  the 
States  where  a  girl  may  be  wed  at  less  than  that  age  not  one 
woman  in  one  hundred  knows  anything  about  law.  The 
awakening  of  women  to  the  fact  that  their  defensive  and 
protective  measures  must  come  from  th'e  law  making  source 
of  their  State  rouses  them  to  a  discrimination  between  good 
and  bad  laws  for  women  and  minors,  and  whether  they  have 
the  franchise  or  not,  there  is  started  a  revolution  against 
such  legal  influence  as  undermines  the  home,  a  revolution 
which  must  ultimately  result  in  a  purifying  betterment  of 
statutory  enactments.  The  need  of  uniform  laws  of  marriage 
and  divorce  must  be  the  subject  of  closest  attention  from 
the  woman  citizen.  There  is  a  crazy  patchwork  of  laws  so 
long  as  one  State  permits  a  girl  of  twelve  years  to  marry 
when  the  neighboring  States  on  four  boundary  lines  re- 
quire the  age  to  be  not  less  than  eighteen;  when  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  bond  in  one  State  is  ludicrously  easy  after  a  six 
months'  sojourn,  while  in  other  States  the  bond  is  made  in- 
dissoluble except  for  the  gravest  grounds  and  under  almost 


42  WOMAN'S   LEGAL  STATUS 

impossible  restrictions,  one  State,  in  fact,  refusing  alto- 
gether to  contemplate  the  abrogation  of  the  marriage  con- 
tract. 

The  great  need  in  regard  to  divorce  laws  and  the  age 
requirement  for  marriage  contracts  is  that  they  be  made 
uniform  in  the  United  States.  Of  what  avail  is  it  to  complain 
of  the  New  York  law  which  grants  divorce  for  but  one  reason 
when  domicile  for  six  months  in  Nevada  will  enable  an  appli- 
cant to  secure  a  divorce  for  almost  anything  from  bad  tem- 
per to  adultery?  Of  what  avail  is  it  to  complain  that  one 
State  forbids  re-marriage  after  divorce  before  the  expira- 
tion of  a  certain  period  of  time  when  the  seeker  for  new 
matrimonial  pastures  has  but  to  buy  two  round  trip  excur- 
sion tickets  to  a  near-by  and  more  obliging  State  to  re-marry 
and  be  within  the  law  ?  Or  why  regulate  the  age  at  twenty- 
one  to  contract  marriage  in  one  State  and  twelve  in  another? 
The  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  establishing  unifornfi 
divorce  laws  is  to  ascertain  the  precise  extent  of  relief  which 
should  be  granted  to  apply  to  the  infiinite  variety  of  cases 
arising  from  the  complicated  grievances  of  human  society 
in  these  modern  times.  It  is  manifestly  a  hard  problem  to 
adjust  the  flexible  divorce  laws  of  a  State  like  Nevada  to  the 
New  England  idea  of  the  moral  laws — as  well  try  to  adjust 
the  heathen  habits  of  polygamy,  incest  and  cruelty  with  the 
Christian  view  of  morality,  law  and  justice.  But  one  State 
should  not  make  its  jurisprudence  an  instrument  of  injus- 
tice to  the  people  of  another  State,  and  there  is  injustice  in 
the  two  extremes. 

Because  a  marriage  deemed  legally  dissolved  in  one  State 
may  remain  legally  valid  in  another  there  arises  many  vex- 
inig  problems  for  the  courts  which  not  infrequently  would 
like  to  evade  jurisdiction  even  as  did  the  English  Courts 
when  hearing  the  case  of  Dalrymple  vs.  Dalrymple,  an  action 
to  test  the  validity  of  a  Scotch, marriage.    The  Court  said: 

"Being  entertained  in  an  English  Court  the  cause  must 
be  adjudicated  according  to  the  principles  of  English  law 


WOMAN'S   LEGAL  STATUS  43 

applicable  to  such  a  case.  But  the  only  principle  applicable 
to  such  a  case  by  the  lav/  of  England  is,  that  the  validity  of 
a  marriage  must  be  tried  by  reference  to  the  law  of  the 
country  where  it  had  its  origin.  Having  furnished  this 
principle,  the  law  of  England  withdraws  altogether,  and 
leaves  the  legal  question  to  the  exclusive  judgment  of  the 
law  of  Scotland." 

The  laws  of  marriage  and  the  laws  of  divorce,  notwith- 
standing the  almost  insuperable  difficulties  because  of  dif- 
ference in  sectional  views  and  customs,  should  be  made  uni- 
form, for  at  this  time  not  only  is  there  great  variance  of 
jurisprudence  as  to  age  limit  and  the  grounds  and  methods 
for  dissolving  the  matrimonial  tie  but  common  law  mar- 
riages are  upheld  in  certain  States  and  in  others  the  leaning 
is  to  require  strict  observance  of  certain  forms  and  cere- 
monies of  marriage. 

Kent  in  his  Commentaries  Vol.  II,  p.  87  says  of  mar- 
riage : 

"No  peculiar  ceremonies  are  requisite  by  the  common  law 
to  the  valid  celebration  of  the  marriage.  The  consent  of  the 
parties  is  all  that  is  required ;  and  as  marriage  is  said  to  be 
a  contract  jure  gentium,  that  consent  is  all  that  is  required 
by  natural  or  public  law.  If  the  contract  be  made  per  verba 
de  praesenti,  and  remain  without  cohabitation,  or  if  made 
per  verba  re  futuro  and  be  followed  by  consummation  it 
amounts  to  a  valid  marriage  in  the  absence  of  all  civil  regu- 
lations to  the  contrary,  and  which  the  parties  (being  compe- 
tent as  to  age  and  consent)  cannot  dissolve,  and  is  equally 
binding  as  if  made  in  facie  ecclesiae.  There  is  no  recog- 
nition of  an  ecclesiastical  authority  in  forming  the  connec- 
tion, and  it  is  considered  entirely  in  the  light  of  a  civil  con- 
tract. This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  common  law,  and  also  the 
common  law  which  governed  marriages  in  England  prior  to 
the  Marriage  Act  of  26  Geo.  II." 

Endless  litigation  has  grown  out  of  common  law  mar- 
riages where  it  was  deemed  by  the  contracting  parties  suffi- 


U  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

cient  to  agree  between  themselves  that  they  should  be  hus- 
band and  wife  and  without  conforming  to  any  religious  or 
civil  ceremony.  The  vital  question  is  the  existence  of  a  con- 
tract of  marriage.  In  the  case  of  State  vs.  Hansbrough,  181 
Mo.  p.  350,  where  the  State  based  a  prosecution  for  bigamy 
on  recognition  of  the  parties  by  their  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances for  twenty  years  as  husband  and  wife,  held  that  it 
was  not  sufficient  to  prove  a  contract  of  marriage  to  show 
cohabitation  and  general  reputation  as  husband  and  wife, 
lor  "wliiie  a  marriage  at  common  law  required  no  particular 
form  or  ceremiony  to  make  it  valid,  enough  had  to  be  said 
and  done  by  the  contracting  parties  to  make  a  contract." 

When  a  minor  under  the  age  specified  by  law,  can  con- 
tract a  Common  Law  marriage  and  does  enter  such  an  agree- 
ment, a  suit  for  nullity  will  lie  and  may  be  brought  by  the 
infant,  parents  or  guardians.  Sec.  1744,  of  the  Code  of  Civil 
Procedure,  of  New  York,  reads : 

*'An  action  to  annul  a  marriage  on  the  ground  that  one 
of  the  parties  had  not  attained  the  age  of  legal  consent  may 
be  maintained  by  the  infant,  or  by  either  parent  of  the  in- 
fant, or  by  the  guardian  of  the  infant's  person ;  or  the  court 
may  allow  the  action  to  be  maintained  by  any  person  as  the 
next  friend  of  the  infant." 

And  similar  relief  is  granted  by  other  States.  But  when  a 
suit  is  filed  to  annul  a  marriage  contracted  by  persons  of  less 
than  the  age  when  the  law  permits  there  arises  the  question 
of  the  legitimacy  of  children,  if  there  are  any.  In  the  suit 
of  McCan  vs.  McCan  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York  re- 
cently Justice  Ordway  filed  the  following  memorandum: 

"This  is  an  action  for  the  annulment  of  a  marriage  on 
the  ground  that  the  plaintiff  was  only  seventeen  years  of  age 
when  she  maii'ied  the  defendant,  and  left  him  before  reach- 
ing the  age  of  eighteen,  and  had  not  cohabited  with  him 
since.  There  is  one  child  born  of  the  marriage  and  still 
living.  The  plaintiff  has  offered  no  evidence  tending  to 
show  misconduct  on  the  part  of  her  husband,  or  any  rea- 


WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS  45 

son  for  tlie  annulment  of  her  marriag'e  beyond  the  facts 
already  stated,  but  she  is  not  required  to  do  so,  and  any 
such  evidence  would  probably  be  immaterial  and  irrelevant. 
I  regret  that  I  am  compelled  to  grant  the  decree  asked  for 
(Kruger  v.  Kruger,  137  App.  Div.,  289).  It  seems  to  me  un- 
fortunate that  the  law  of  this  State  should  permit  tnese 
'trial  marriages,'  which  may  be  annulled  at  the  mere  re- 
quest of  either  party,  if  he  or  she  was  married  and  left  the 
other  before  reaching  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  In  this  case 
such  a  law  seems  particularly  unfortunate  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  no  power  is  given  to  the  court  in  an  action  for 
annulment  of  this  kind  to  make  any  provision  for  the  care 
or  support  of  children  of  the  marriage.  It  seems  to  me 
most  desirable  that  the  Legislature  should  consider  this  mat- 
ter and  amend  the  law  so  as  to  protect  more  fully  the  mar- 
riage relation  and  family  ties.  Decision  and  interlocutory 
judgment  signed  and  filed." 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  there  are  many  sides  and  many 
views  of  the  contract  of  marriage,  the  responsibilities 
of  the  contracting  parties,  the  obligations  aris- 
ing to  the  society  in  which  Vv^e  live,  property  rights  and  the 
consequences  to  heirs.  Courts  can  only  apply  the  laws  as 
they  are  written  and  the  great  need  is  of  a  general  house- 
cleaning  of  the  Statute  Books,  and  in  some  instances  amend- 
ments to  State  Constitutions,  the  expunging  of  the  great 
accumulation  of  useless  and  conflicting  enactments,  and  uni- 
form legislation  along  certain  lines  so  that  full  faith  and 
credence  may  be  given  by  each  State  to  the  laws  and  judg- 
ments of  courts  of  the  other  States  without  injustice  or  con- 
fusion resulting. 

The  matter  of  jurisdiction  in  divorce  actions  has  given 
rise  to  much  judicial  discussion.  The  courts  of  one  State 
have  no  general  authority  to  grant  divorce.  The  question 
arises  would  jurisdiction  be  had  because  the  marriage  con- 
tract was  entered  into  in  a  State,  or  the  alleged  breach  of 
the  bond  occurred  within  its  boundaries,  or  the  parties,  or 


46  WOMAN'S  LEGAL  STATUS 

one  of  them,  reside  therein  though  both  marriage  and  of- 
fense occurred  without  the  State.  It  has  been  generally 
held  that  bona  fide  residence  of  either  husband  or  wife  with- 
in a  State  gives  jurisdiction  in  divorce  actions.  But  if  a 
party  goes  to  a  jurisdiction  other  than  that  of  his  domicile 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  securing  a  divorce  and  his  residence 
is  not  bona  fide,  jurisdiction  is  not  had  over  the  marriage 
relation  in  the  State  of  temporary  residence,  and  a  decree 
obtained  by  such  fraud  would  be  open  to  attack  as  to  its 
validity  by  the  other  party.  In  general  the  domicile  of  the 
husband  is  the  domicile  of  the  wife,  but  when  living  apart 
and  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  the  right  to  su^  for 
divorce  the  wife  may  acquire  a  domicile  in  a  State  where 
she  goes  with  the  intent  to  make  such  place  her  home.  But 
where  neither  party  has  actual  domicile  within  a  particular 
State  its  courts  can  have  no  jurisdicition  in  respect  to  their 
marital  status,  and  any  decree  of  divorce  made  therein 
must  be  nugatory. 

Nor  can  service  of  process  on  the  defendant  be  had  in 
another  State  than  where  the  action  is  brought.  He  must 
be  cited  either  through  an  attorney  appointed  to  represent 
his  interests  by  the  court  or  he  must  be  cited  by  publica- 
tion, if  he  is  without  the  State.  Notice  by  publication  is 
accomplished  by  a  form  printed  in  a  public  journal  or  posted 
as  the  Statute  may  direct,  usually  being  on  the  courthouse 
doors.  The  purpose  of  citation  is  to  bring  knowledge  of  the 
action  to  the  defendant.  Where  personal  service  can  be  had 
on  the  defendant  it  is  the  one  safest  and  surest  proceeding. 

Under  existing  conditions  of  our  varied  divorce  laws  it 
seems  absurd  to  hold  up  our  hands  in  horror  at  certain  bibli- 
cal and  historic  characters  who  maintained  wives  by  the 
hundred,  for  there  are  States  where  it  is  so  easy  and  inex- 
pensive to  have  the  bond  of  matrimony  legally  removed  a 
man,  bigamously  inclined,  or  a  woman  with  a  hard  taste  to 
please  in  husbands,  can  tal^e,  and  dispose,  of  all  kinds  of 
spouses,  one  at  a  time,  as  Irvin  Cobb  says,  marriage  these 
c^.ays  being  "an  option  and  not  a  contract." 


M^^V  harping  Hatusi 

AS  THEY  AFFECT  WOMEN  IN  THE  SEVERAL  STATES 


ALABAMA. 


The  married  woman  in  Alabama  may  contract  with  her 
husband  or  with  others  and  her  separate  property  is  liable 
for  such  contracts,  but  where  the  contract  is  for  the  mutual 
benefit  then  the  common  property  of  both  is  liable.  The 
husband  is  not  liable  for  the  contracts  of  his  wife  unless  he 
has  participated  in  them  or  their  benefits.  The  married  wo- 
man may  conduct  a  business  as  a  public  merchant  by  ob- 
taining the  consent  of  her  husband  in  writing  and  placing 
this  consent  of  record  in  the  Probate  Court.  When  this  con- 
sent is  filed  she  may  contract  and  be  contracted  with  in  rela- 
tion to  her  business  the  same  as  a  male  or  femme  sole.  Ala- 
bama recognizes  the  married  woman  of  eighteen  years  as  be- 
ing of  full  age  while  the  unmarried  woman  is  not  of  age  until 
she  has  attained  twenty-one  years,  hence  marriage  in  Ala- 
bama emancipates  the  female  minor  of  three  years  less 
than  majority. 

A  girl  of  seventeen  years  may  marry  with  the  consent  of 
her  parents  or  guardians,  but  without  such  consent  she  can- 
not marry  until  she  is  twenty-one  years  of  &ge. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  upon  property. 

If  the  wife  survive  her  husband  she  takes  all  of  the 
personal  property  if  there  are  no  descendants.     If  there  are 

47 


48  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

children  the  widow  and  children  share  equally.  If  there  are 
no  children  the  wife  takes  all  of  the  estate  only  if  the  hus- 
band left  neither  brothers  nor  sisters  nor  parents.  She  is 
entitled  to  Homestead  rights. 

If  the  husband  survive  the  wife  he  takes  half  of  the 
estate  and  the  descendants,  if  any,  divide  the  residue,  and 
if  there  are  no  descendants  he  takes  all  of  the  estate. 

At  eighteen  the  woman  may  dispose  by  will  of  her  per- 
sonal property  but  disposition  by  will  of  real  property  can 
be  made  only  after  the  woman  has  attained  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years. 

Among  other  causes,  divorce  will  be  granted  a  woman 
for  abandonment  by  her  husband  of  two  years,  or  for  hab- 
itual drunkenness  or  excessive  cruelty. 

The  maximum  penalty  for  rape  is  death,  the  minimum 
penalty  ten  years  imprisonment. 

Alabama  passed  into  the  list  of  Prohibition  States  in 
1915. 

The  custody  of  children  is  given  to  the  father  unless 
he  is  proven  to  be  a  person  unfit  for  the  trust. 

The  Child  Labor  Bill  which  was  passed  by  the  Alabama 
Legislature  in  1915  provides  for  compulsory  education  from 
and  after  the  first  of  October,  1917,  making  it  obligatory 
for  children  between  eight  and  fifteen  years  to  attend  school 
for  eighty  days  in  each  year,  exception  being  made  if  the 
child's  service  is  necessary  for  its  support  or  the  support 
of  a  disabled  father  or  \Tldowed  mother. 

No  child  under  fourteen  years  may  work  in  any  gainful 
occupation,  exception  being  made  to  allow  boys  over  twelve 
to  work  in  offices  and  mercantile  concerns  out  of  school 
hours. 

No  person,  under  twenty-one,  may  work  in  a  saloon, 
or  where  liquor  is  manufactured,  packed  or  sold. 

There  must  be  seats  in  shops  for  girls  and  women  em- 
ployees. 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  49 

Boys  under  twelve  and  girls  under  eighteen  will  not  be 
permitted  to  sell  papers  on  the  streets  or  in  public  buildings 
but  boys  over  twelve  may  distribute  papers  on  regular 
I'outes.  Between  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  and  five  o'clock 
in  the  morning  boys  of  less  than  sixteen  years  will  not  be 
permitted  to  engage  in  street  trade  of  any  kind  without  per- 
mission from  specified  authorities  indicated  by  a  badge.  In 
cities  of  25,000  or  more  persons  of  less  than  eighteen  will 
not  be  permitted  to  distribute  messages  or  goods  between 
9  p.m.  and  5  a.m. 

Children  under  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  employment 
in  places  where  there  is  dangerous  machinery,  or  on  ves- 
sels or  railroads,  or  among  dangerous  acids  or  poisonous 
dyes,  or  gases,  or  in  any  mine  or  tunnel,  coal  brakei",  coke 
oven  or  quarry,  or  in  building  trades,  on  scafi'olding,  or  in 
manufacturing  plants  or  in  any  concert  hall,  exhibition, 
theater  or  other  show. 

The  hours  when  children  under  sixteen  may  be  employ- 
ed in  mills,  factories  and  manufacturing  plants  is  limited  to 
six  days  or  sixty  hours  per  week  and  not  more  than  eleven 
hours  in  any  one  day,  and  work  in  such  places  is  forbidden 
between  6  p.m.  and  6  a.m. 

Between  sixteen  and  eighteen  years  of  age  the  restric- 
tion forbids  work  in  any  mill,  factory  or  manufacturing  plant 
for  more  than  eight  hours  in  any  one  night. 

Women  and  boys  less  than  sixteen  years  of  age  are  for- 
bidden to  work  in  any  mine. 

There  is  no  law  regulating  commercial  vice,  or  "Red 
Light"  ordinance. 

The  earnings  of  the  wife  and  damages  accorded  her  for 
personal  injuiies  belong  to  her  separate  estate.  The  wife 
may  sue  and  be  sued  on  all  of  her  contracts  and  torts,  but 
she  cannot  transfer  real  property  unless  her  husband  joins 
in  the  act  unless  he  has  abandoned  her,  is  insane,  a  non- 
resident or  ir,  imprisoned  for  a  term  of  not  less  than  two 
years,  then  she  may  be  authorized  by  the  court  of  her 


50  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEiV 

domicile.    The  wife  cannot  become  surety  for  her  husband 
in  Alabama. 

While  the  Child  Labor  Law  making-  some  restrictions  on 
hours  when  children  may  be  made  to  work,  compelling  edu- 
cation, and  making  some  provision  for  the  protection  of 
women  is  creditable  to  the  fair  State  of  Alabama,  and  to 
other  States  which  have  made  this  start  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, it  would  appear  that  there  is  room  for  added 
legislation  while  children  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  may 
be  worked  "not  more  than  sixty  hours"  in  six  days  and  not 
more  than  "eleven  hours  in  any  one  day."  Husky  members 
of  labor  unions  in  the  east  and  west  would  make  strenuous 
objection  to  such  long  hours  and  it  would  seem  in  a  southern 
climate  boys  of  less  than  eighteen  years  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  better  stand  the  ten  or  eleven  hour  day  strain. 


ARIZONA. 


The  State  of  Arizona  has  not  many  laws  particularly 
burdensome  to  women.  There  is  little  discrimination  be- 
tween the  sexes  in  the  laws  of  this  liberal  State.  There  is 
the  community  property  law  between  husband  and  wife  and 
the  rights  of  either  are  the  same  with  regard  to  the  descent 
of  community  property  or  their  separate  estates.  The  wife 
retains  the  control  of  her  separate  estate.  If  she  is  living 
apart  from  her  husband  her  earnings  and  those  of  her  minor 
children  belong  to  such  separate  estate.  If  a  woman  lists 
the  property  she  owns  at  time  of  marriage,  and  puts  it  on 
record,  such  act  maintains  the  exclusive  use  and  benefit  of 
such  property  to  her  and  holds  it  free  from  liability  for  debts 
of  the  husband.  The  community  property,  that  acquired 
after  marriage  by  both,  is  liable  for  the  support  of  the  con- 
jugal home.  The  husband  cannot  convey  any  real  property 
belonging  to  the  community  without  the  consent  and  signa- 
ture of  his  wife.  The  one  advantage  that  the  husband  xias  is 
in  regard  to  the  control  of  the  community  personal  property, 


LAVv'S    AFFECTING    WOMEN  51 

which,  during  coverture,  may  be  disposed  of  by  the  husband 
only.  Also  the  wife  cannot  make  contracts  binding  on  the 
community  property;  she  can  only  contract  with  regard  to 
her  separate  estate  and  the  husband  is  permitted  the  sole 
right  to  contract  with  regard  not  only  to  his  separate  estate 
but  the  community.  Speaking  of  this  last  provision  of  the 
law,  Alice  M.  Birdsall,  a  very  successful  woman  lawyer  of 
Phoenix,  Arizona,  says:  "While  this  provision  might  be 
deemed  to  work  a  certain  hardship  on  married  women,  I 
presume  that  since  the  support  of  the  family  devolves  upon 
the  husband  it  is  considered  fair  to  give  him  a  little  more 
control  than  the  wife  in  the  community  estate.  I  rejoice 
in  the  liberal  laws  of  the  State  of  Arizona." 

Among  other  grounds  on  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
is  desertion  of  one  year;  if  either  party  has  been  convicted 
of  a  felony  prior  to  marriage  and  the  other  party  has  no 
knowledge  of  same,  cruelty,  non-support  and  habitual  drunk- 
enness. 

The  female  can  contract  a  valid  marriage  at  fourteen 
with  the  consent  of  parents  and  at  eighteen  without  paren- 
tal consent. 

The  inheritance  tax  on  estates  is  as  follows:  Grand- 
father, grandmother,  parents,  husband,  wife,  child,  brother, 
sister,  son-  or  daughter-in-law  one  per  cent.  $5,000  is  ex- 
empt to  each  beneficiary  above  named. 

To  uncle,  aunt,  niece  or  descendant  thereof,  two  per 
cent.  $2,000  is  exempt  to  each  beneficiary  named.  Estates 
of  less  than  $5,000  are  exempt. 

To  others  than  the  relatives  named  three  per  cent  is 
taxed  up  to  $10,000,  four  per  cent  from  ten  to  twenty  thous- 
and, five  per  cent,  from  twenty  to  fifty  thousand  and  six 
per  cent,  on  amounts  above  that  figure.    $500  is  exempt. 

The  age  of  consent  in  Arizona  is  eighteen  years  and  the 
crime  of  rape  is  punishable  by  not  less  than  five  years  im- 
prisonment. 


52  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

Equal  suffrage  has  been  in  effect  since  1914  and  Ari- 
zona is  a  Prohibition  State. 

Boys  under  eighteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in  un- 
derground mines  and  no  child  under  fourteen  may  be  em- 
ployed in  gainful  occupation  during  school  hours. 

No  boy  and  no  female  under  sixteen  may  be  employed 
in  underground  mines,  quarries  or  coal  breaker. 

Boys  of  less  than  sixteen  years  and  girls  of  less  than 
eighteen  are  prohibited  from  working  more  than  eight  hours 
in  each  day  or  between  7  p.m.  and  7  a.m. 

Boys  between  ten  and  fourteen  may  be  specially  per- 
mitted by  license  to  sell  papers  or  do  other  work  not  harm- 
ful morally  or  physically,  outside  school  hours. 

Children  under  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in 
places  of  danger  morally  or  physically. 

No  minor  or  woman  may  be  employed  in  a  bar  room. 

Boys  under  ten  and  girls  under  sixteen  are  prohibited 
from  selling  papers  on  the  streets.  Messenger  boys  under 
twenty-one  are  prohibited  from  working  after  10  p.m.  and 
before  5  a.m. 

Women  are  prohibited  from  working  more  than  eight 
hours  in  any  twelve  hour  day  and  one  hour  must  be  al- 
lowed for  meals.  But  if  the  week  comprise  six  days  only 
then  on  one  day  in  the  week  the  woman  may  work  for  ten 
hours. 

It  was  Arizona  which  first  established  the  "honor  sys- 
tem" in  prisons.  Soon  after  coi-poral  punishment  was  abol- 
ished in  1911  Miss  Kate  Barnard,  known  throughout  the 
country  as  "Oklahoma  Kate,"  was  invited  by  State  Warden 
Simms,  of  the  prisons  at  Florence,  Arizona,  to  be  the  guest 
of  the  State  and  to  help  him  evolve  some  humane  method 
of  aiding  the  prisoners  to  leave  the  institution  bettered  and 
not  degraded  by  the  incarceration.  Miss  Barnard  went  to 
Florence  and  lived  within  the  pi'ison  studying  the 
prisoners  and  conditions  with  the  result  that  she  estab- 
lished the  "Mutual  Improvement  League."     Miss  Barnard 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  53 

says  of  her  experience  of  that  visit  to  the  Florence 
prison:  "There  were  signs  of  mutinous  dissatisfaction 
on  the  part  of  some  of  the  inmates,  and  it  was  seriously 
considered  whether  it  would  be  necessary  to  make  an 
example  of  the  supposed  ringleader  by  putting  him  in 
solitary  confinement,  as  had  been  done  with  such  cases 
in  the  old  days.  I  saw  at  once  that  the  human  factor  in- 
volved was  that  of  jealousy.  This  man,  a  "lifer,"  of  brilliant 
attainments,  was  thought  by  a  prison  official,  not  the  war- 
den, to  be  getting  too  strong  a  hold  over  the  other  prisoners. 
I  solved  the  problem  by  establishment  of  a  Mutual  Improve- 
ment League.  Thus  the  honor  system  at  last  became  a  real- 
ity. The  ultimate  triumph  of  it  was  achieved  near  the  end 
of  my  six  weeks'  stay,  when  I  had  that  same  "lifer"  drive  me 
to  church,  a  distance  of  about  four  miles,  and  back  again, 
without  the  escort  of  an  armed  guard  or  any  physical  duress 
whatever." 


ARKANSAS. 


A  married  woman,  by  first  obtaining  the  consent  of  the 
court  of  her  domicile,  may  contract  with  regard  to  any  busi- 
ness she  may  conduct,  but  she  is  prohibited  from  acting  as 
executrix  of  an  estate.  She  may  bequeath  or  convey  her 
separate  property,  and  if  a  list  of  her  property  is 
recorded  such  property  is  exempt  from  liability  for  the  debts 
of  her  husband. 

The  estate,  upon  the  death  of  either,  goes  to  the  survivor 
if  there  are  no  surviving  ascendants  or  descendants.  In  any 
event  the  widow  is  entitled  to  one-third  of  the  personal 
property  and  her  dower  of  one-third  in  all  real  estate.  She  is 
entitled  to  homestead  rights. 

Arkansas  has  an  Industrial  Welfare  Commission  which 
regulates  the  hours  and  wage  rates  of  women. 


54  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

Women  and  boys  of  less  than  fourteen  years  are  for- 
bidden entering  or  working-  in  mines.  Children  under  four- 
teen are  not  permitted  to  work  in  gainful  occupations  ex- 
cept for  parents  or  guardians  out  of  school  hours.  Children 
under  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in  places  danger- 
ous morally  or  physically  and  they  are  prohibited  from 
working  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold ;  and  under  this 
age  restriction  they  are  permitted  to  work  only  if  they  have 
passed  four  grades  in  the  public  schools,  or  the  equivalent. 

Children  under  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working 
more  than  eight  hours  in  any  one  day,  and  between  sixteen 
and  eighteen  more  than  ten  hours  in  each  day. 

Children  between  eight  and  sixteen  must  attend  school 
at  least  half  of  each  public  school  session  unless  the  child's 
labor  is  necessary  for  self  support  or  the  support  of  a  wid- 
owed mother  or  disabled  father. 

Seats  must  be  provided  in  mercantile  establishments 
for  girls  and  women. 

The  guardianship  of  children  is  given  to  the  father  ex- 
cept in  cases  where  the  courts  decree  otherwise  in  divorce 
proceedings. 

Among  other  reasons  for  divorce  Arkansas  provides 
relief  for  habitual  drunkenness,  cruelty  and  desertion  of  one 
year. 

Female  of  fourteen  may  contract  a  valid  marriage 
with  the  consent  of  parents  and  without  parental  consent 
at  eighteen  years. 

The  inheritance  tax  against  estates  is  as  follows:  To 
parents,  husband,  wife,  child,  brother,  sister,  son-  or  daugh- 
ter-in-law, one  per  cent  on  amounts  exceeding  $5,000. 


CALIFORNIA. 


California  is  in  the  very  front  rank  among  the  few 
I   States  which  have  recognized  women  citizens  as  equal  in 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  55 

the  law  and  it  is  both  enlightening  and  pleasant  to  go  rather 
fully  into  the  provision  made  for  them  by  its  amendments 
and  legislative  Acts.  Jack  London,  who  could  attune  his 
pen  to  his  poetic  soul,  and  who  could  bring  from  the  music 
of  his  descriptive  language  pictures  keen  and  vivid,  liked 
to  present  California  as  a  very  Eden.  Assuredly  that  local- 
ity which  was  so  great  an  inspiration  to  him  and  has  been 
to  so  many  others,  that  State  which  has  produced  the  best 
of  everything,  might  well  be  expected  to  give  to  the  minds 
and  character  of  its  people  the  strength  and  breadth  which 
assure  fairness  and  justice  to  women  as  well  as  to  men. 

The  married  woman  in  California  can  contract  freely 
with  respect  to  her  separate  estate  or  any  business  in  which 
she  may  be  engaged  and  she  may  contract  with  her  husband, 
even  to  the  extent  of  entering  into  a  valid  agreement  of 
separation,  whereby  individual  domiciles  may  be  maintained 
and  the  care  and  custody  of  the  children  provided  for. 

At  the  time  of  its  adoption  in  1879  the  Constitution  of 
California  provided  (Art.  XX,  Sec.  18)  that:  "No  person 
shall,  on  account  of  sex,  be  disqualified  from  entering  upon 
or  pursuing  any  lawful  business,  vocation  or  profession." 
It  provided  also  that  women  should  not  be  barred  from  any 
department  of  the  State  University.  Under  the  foregoing 
provisions  women  in  California  have  had  many  years  of 
opportunity  and  in  October,  1911,  the  last  provision  discrim- 
inatory against  women  was  removed  from  the  Constitution 
by  the  "Suffrage  Amendment."  In  1914  provision  was  made 
for  a  minimum  wage  law  for  women,  so  that  on  its  face,  the 
present  Constitution  of  California  shows  only  one  inequality 
between  men  and  women,  and  that  is  in  favor  of  women. 
Under  this  law  there  has  been  created  a  Welfare  Commission 
composed  of  five  persons,  one  of  whom  must  be  a  woman, 
and  the  Commission  investigates  the  wages  and  conditions 
under  which  women  work,  and  it  has  the  power  to  make 
rulings  with  the  force  of  law. 


56  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

The  Codes  still  contain  many  laws  remaining  from 
what  may  be  called  the  earliest  regime,  some  in  favor  of 
and  some  against  the  best  interest  of  women.  But  an 
unmarried  woman  is  as  free  to  contract,  to  sue  and  defend 
as  an  unmarried  man.  She  may  even  sue  for  her  own 
seduction  (C.  C.  P.  374).  In  the  whole  body  of  the  civil 
law  there  appears  but  one  discrimination  against  her,  and 
that  one  is  the  rather  unimportant  one  that  brothers  of  a 
decendent  are  entitled  to  letters  of  administration  before 
sisters  (C.  C.  P.  1365).  And,  in  general,  except  as  to  com- 
munity property,  which  represents  the  asset  in  which  both 
husband  and  wife  are  owners,  a  married  woman  has  the 
same  freedom  of  action  which  the  unmarried  woman  has. 

Section  158  of  the  Civil  Code  provides  that  "either  hus- 
band or  wife  may  enter  into  any  engagement  or  transaction 
with  the  other  or  with  any  other  person,  respecting 
property,  which  either  might  if  unmarried."  This  is  slight- 
ly modified  by  the  chapter  in  the  same  code  on  Homesteads, 
but  the  modification  discriminates  against  the  husband 
rather  than  the  wife. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  the  separate  property  of 
husband  or  wife  shall  consist  of  all  property  owned  by  him 
or  her  before  marriage  and  that  acquired  afterwards  by  gift, 
bequest,  devise  or  descent,  with  the  rents,  issues  and  profits 
thereof.  The  Civil  Code  (sec.  164)  supplements  this  by 
establishing  certain  presumptions  in  favor  of  the  wife: 
Where  property  is  conveyed  to  a  married  woman  by  an 
instrument  in  writing  it  is  presumed,  unless  otherwise  speci- 
fied in  the  writing,  that  it  is  to  be  held  as  her  separate 
property;  and  in  case  of  a  similar  conveyance  to  husband 
a:nd  wife  it  is  presumed,  unless  otherwise  specified,  that  the 
wife  takes  as  tenant  in  common.  An  additional  advantage  is 
given  to  the  wife  by  the  fact  that  the  earnings  and  accumu- 
lations of  the  wife  and  of  hev  minor  children,  living  with 
her  while  she  is  living  separate  from  her  husband,  are  her 
separate  property  (C.  C,  169). 


'■  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  57 

The  wife  may  convey  her  separate  property  without  her  T 
husband's  consent  (C.  C,  162).  She  may  make  a  grant  of 
realty  in  the  same  manner  as  though  she  were  unmarried 
(C.  C,  1093) ;  and  may  give  a  power  of  attorney  for  the 
disposal  of  real  or  personal  property  in  the  same  manner  as 
though  she  were  unmarried  (C.  C,  1094) .  Under  the  Bank- 
ing Act  she  may  have  a  bank  account  in  her  exclusive  right 
free  from  the  control  of  her  husband.  She  may  dispose 
of  all  of  her  separate  property  by  will  without  the  consent 
of  her  husband,  and  may  alter  or  revoke  the  will  in  like 
manner  as  though  she  were  single  (C.  C.  1273).  However, 
a  will  executed  by  a  woman  is  revoked  by  her  subsequent 
marriage  and  is  not  revived  by  the  death  of  her  husband 
(C.  C,  1300),  while  in  the  case  of  a  man  the  will  is  revoked 
only  if  the  wife  survives  him  and  is  not  provided  for  by 
marriage  contract  nor  mentioned  in  the  will  (C.  C,  1299). 
A  married  woman  may  be  executrix  or  administratrix  of 
a  will.  The  authority  of  an  executrix  or  administratrix  is 
not  affected  by  her  subsequent  marriage  (C.  C.  P.,  1352, 
1370).  A  married  woman's  right  to  her  separate  property 
is  protected  by  a  provision  that  she  may  make  and  file  for 
recoi'd  an  inventory  thereof  and  that  the  filing  of  such 
inventory  is  notice  and  prima  facie  evidence  of  her  title 
(C.  C,  165,  166). 

The  separate  property  of  the  wife  is  liable  for  her  own 
debts  contracted  before  or  after  marriage,  but  it  is  not 
liable  for  the  debts  of  her  husband,  except  that  property 
acquired  by  her  by  gift  from  him  after  marriage  is  liable 
for  debts  contracted  by  either  of  them  for  necessities  fur- 
nished either  or  both  while  they  are  living  together  (C.  C, 
171).  Neither  is  the  separate  property  of  the  husband 
liable  for  the  debts  of  the  wife;  and  (by  an  amendment  of 
1913)  the  husband  is  exempted  from  liability  for  the  wife's 
torts  except  where,  without  the  marriage,  he  would  be 
johitly  Table. 


58  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

As  to  a  married  woman's  right  to  sue  and  defend: 
When  the  action  concerns  her  separate  property,  or  when 
it  is  between  her  and  her  husband,  or  when  they  are  sepa- 
rated by  his  desertion  or  by  agreement  she  may  sue  and  be 
sued  alone  (C.  C.  P.,  370).  And  in  any  case  when  both  are 
sued  she  may  defend,  and  if  her  husband  fail  to  do  so  may 
defend  him  also.  In  case  of  the  death  of  the  father  or  his 
desertion  of  his  family  the  mother  may  sue  for  the  seduction 
or  for  the  injury  or  death  of  a  minor  child  (C.  C.  P.,  375, 
376). 

The  real  discrimination  against  women  in  Califomia 
concerns  the  rights  of  parties  to  a  marriage  to  the  control 
of  tiie  community  property.  Community  property  includes 
all  acquired  by  either  husband  or  wife  during  the  marriage, 
except  that  acquired  by  gift,  bequest,  devise  or  descent  with 
its  rents,  issues  and  profits,  and  except  also  the  earnings 
and  accumulations  of  the  wife  and  her  minor  children  with 
her  while  she  is  living  separate  from  her  husband.  The 
property  rights  of  husband  and  wife  are  governed  by  the 
provisions  of  the  Civil  Code  unless  there  is  a  marriage  set- 
tlement (C.  C,  177).  A  marriage  settlement  contract  may 
be  recorded  (C.  C,  179).  The  recording  or  non-recording  of 
such  a  contract  has  the  same  effect  as  the  recording  or 
non-recording  of  a  grant  of  real  property  (C.  C,  180). 

'T'he  husband  has  the  management  and  control  of  the 
commamity  property,  with  the  like  absolute  power  of  dispo- 
sition, other  than  testamentary,  as  he  has  of  his  separate 
estate;  provided,  however,  that  he  cannot  make  a  gift  of 
such  community  property,  or  convey  the  same  without  a 
valuable  consideration,  unless  the  wife,  in  wi-iting,  consent 
thereto;  and  provided  also,  that  no  sale,  convej'-ance  or 
encumbrance  of  the  furniture,  furnishings  and  fittings  of 
the  home,  or  of  the  clothing  and  wearing  apparel  of  the 
wife  or  minor  children,  whicli  is  community  property,  shall 
be  made  without  the  written  consent  of  the  wife."  (C.  C, 
r.2). 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  59 

This  power  does  not  extend  to  the  homestead,  which 
may  be  selected  from  the  community  property,  or  from  the 
separate  property  of  the  husband,  or,  with  her  consent, 
shown  by  her  making  or  joining  in  the  declaration  of  home- 
stead, from  the  separate  property  of  the  wife.  The  husband, 
as  head  of  the  family,  may  select  the  homestead,  but  if 
he  does  not  do  so  the  wife  may.  It  may  not  be  conveyed 
or  encumbered  except  by  an  instrument  executed  by  both 
husband  and  wife  (C.  C,  1242) ;  and  it  may  be  abandoned 
only  by  declaration  or  deed  executed  by  both  (C.  C,  1243). 

The  property  of  the  community  is  not  liable  for  the 
contracts  of  the  wife  made  after  marriage  unless  secured 
by  a  pledge  or  mortgage  thereof  executed  by  the  husband 
(C.  C,  167).  On  the  other  hand  the  wife's  earnings, 
though  community  property,  are  not  liable  for  the  debts  of 
the  husband  (C.  C,  168). 

Certain  rights  to  the  control  of  community  property 
are  saved  to  a  married  woman  by  Title  XII  of  the  Code  of 
Civil  Procedure,  relating  to  "Sole  Traders."  Under  its  pro- 
visions, when  her  husband  fails  to  support  her  she  may 
petition  the  Superior  Court  of  the  County  where  she  resides 
for  permission  to  become  a  sole  trader.  If  it  is  granted  she 
may  carry  on  in  her  own  name  the  business  specified  in  the 
petition.  She  may  invest  in  the  business  a  sum  not  exceed- 
ing five  hundred  dollars  derived  from  the  community  prop- 
erty or  the  separate  property  of  her  husband.  The  property 
invested  and  the  profits  thereof  belong  exclusively  to  her 
and  are  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  her  husband,  and  on 
causes  arising  from  the  conduct  of  the  business  she  may 
sue  and  be  sued  alone.  Her  husband  is  not  liable  for  any 
debts  contracted  by  her  in  the  course  of  her  sole  trader's 
business  unless  contracted  upon  his  written  consent.  A 
married  woman  who  is  adjudged  a  sole  trader  is  liable  for 
the  maintenance  of  her  minor  children. 

Upon  the  death  of  the  husband  only  one-half  of  the 
comrimn  property  goes  to  the  surviving  wife,  the  other  half 


60  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

being  subject  to  his  testamentary  disposition  and  in  the 
absence  thereof  going  to  his  descendants  or,  if  there  are 
none,  to  his  heirs.  But  the  entire  community  property  is 
equally  subject  to  the  debts  of  the  deceased  husband  and 
the  expenses  of  administration  (C.  C,  1402).  However,  the 
widow  and  minor  children,  until  letters  are  granted  and  the 
inventory  returned,  are  entitled  to  remain  in  possession  of 
the  homestead,  wearing  apparel  and  household  furniture 
and  are  entitled  also  to  a  reasonable  provision  for  their 
support  (C.  C.  P.,  1464). 

Upon  the  death  of  the  wife  all  the  community  property 
goes  to  the  surviving  husband  without  administration, 
excepting  such  part  as  has  been  set  aside  to  her  by  judicial 
decree,  which  part  is  subject  to  her  testamentary  disposition 
and  in  the  absence  thereof  goes  to  her  heirs,  exclusive  of 
her  husband. 

These  rules,  however,  do  not  apply  to  the  homestead. 
If  it  lias  been  selected  from  the  community  property  or 
from  the  separate  property  of  the  spouse  making  the  selec- 
tion, on  the  death  of  either  it  vests  in  the  survivor.  In 
other  cases,  upon  the  death  of  the  person  whose  property 
was  selected  it  goes  to  the  heiis  or  devisees,  subject  to  the 
power  of  the  Superior  Court  to  assign  it  for  a  limited  period 
to  tlie  family  of  the  decedent  (C.  C,  1265). 

To  off-set  the  rights  of  the  husband  in  regard  to  the 
comniun'ty  property  the  wife  is  entitled  to  support  from 
him.  If  he  does  not  give  it  any  other  person  may  provide 
Tier  with  necessaries  and  lecover  from  him  the  reasonable 
value  thereof  (C.  C,  174)  ;  excepting  that  when  she  has 
abandoned  him  (unless  she  was  justified  by  his  misconduct) 
he  is  not  liable  until  she  offers  to  return,  and  excepting  also 
that  he  is  not  liable  when  s!ie  is  living  separate  by  agi*ee- 
ment  unless  stipulated  In  tl;c  agreement  (C.  C,  175).  But 
the  wife  must  support  the  husband  out  of  her  separate 
p]'cp:ity  and  there  is  no  community  property  if  he  is 
i.n:.b]e,  from  infirmity,  to  suppoit  l.imr^elf  (C.  C,  176). 


!  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  61 

The  husband,  however,  is  the  head  of  the  family,  and 
may  choose  any  reasonable  and  fit  place  and  mode  of  living 
and  if  the  wife  does  not  conform  thereto  it  is  desertion. 
(But  if  the  place  or  mode  of  living  he  selects  is  "unreason- 
able and  grossly  unfit"  it  is  desertion  on  his  part  from  the 
time  she  objects.)  On  the  other  hand,  wilful  neglect  of 
the  wife  by  the  husband,  i.  e.,  his  failure  to  provide  neces- 
saries for  her,  if  continued  for  one  year  is  a  cause  for 
divorce.  In  any  action  for  divorce,  even  where  the  divorce 
is  denied  the  court  may  provide  for  the  maintenance  by  the 
husband  of  the  wife  and  children  (C.  C,  136).  When  such 
an  action  is  pending  "the  court  may,  in  its  discretion,  require 
the  husband  to  pay  as  almony  any  money  necessary  to  enable 
the  wife  to  support  herself  and  her  children,  or  to  prose- 
cute or  defend  the  action"  (C.  C,  137). 

When  the  husband  deserts  the  wife  or  fails  to  provide 
for  her  or  when  she  has  an  accrued  cause  for  divorce  she 
may,  without  applying  for  divorce,  maintain  an  action 
against  him  for  permanent  maintenance  of  herself  or  of 
herself  and  her  children  (C.  C,  137). 

The  husband  may  be  required  to  pay  alimony  during 
the  pendency  of  this  action  also.  The  judgment  may  be 
enforced  by  order  of  the  court,  v/hich  may  be  altered  or 
revoked  at  any  time  in  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

When  a  divorce  is  granted  for  an  offense  of  the  husband 
the  court  may  compel  him  to  provide  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  children  and  to  make  such  suitable  allowance  to  the 
wife  for  her  support  during  her  life  or  for  a  shorter  period 
as  the  court  may  deem  just.  And  the  court  may  from 
time  to  time  modify  its  orders  in  this  respect. 

As  regards  the  personal  relations  of  husband  and  wife 
they  stand  on  a  fairly  equal  footing.  And  this  is  true  in 
more  than  the  technical  sense,  for  the  law  seems  in  a 
measure  to  equalize  the  differences  that  must  necessarily 
arise  from  the  nature  of  the  relationship  and  our  social 
customs.     Both   husband   and   wife   have   five   causes   for 


«2  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

divorce:  adultery,  extreme  cruelty,  desertion,  habitual  in- 
temperance, and  conviction  of  a  felony.  The  wife  has  one 
more,  mentioned  above:  wilful  neglect.  She  is  protected 
from  the  man's  superior  physical  strength  even  when  she 
cannot  prove  extreme  cruelty  by  a  provision  that  if  one 
party  leaves  the  home  because  of  cruelty  or  threats  of  bodily 
harm  it  is  not  desertion  by  the  absent  party  but  by  the 
other  (C.  C,  98).  And  refusal  of  reasonable  matrimonial 
intercourse  is  desertion  only  "when  health  or  physical  con- 
dition does  not  make  such  refusal  reasonably  necessary" 
(C.  C,  96). 

The  injustice  or  hardship  upon  the  wife  really  arises 
from  the  right  of  the  husband  to  control  the  community 
property.  This  leaves  her  economically  dependent  upon 
him,  and  it  may  be  difficult  for  her  to  get  a  reputable 
attorney  to  handle  her  case,  or  even,  sometimes,  to  raise  the 
necessary  court  costs  to  start  proceedings.  "This  difficulty," 
declares  Margaret  Gardner,  the  woman  lawyer  and  Deputy 
Prosecutor  of  Los  Angeles,  "is  not  entirely  obviated  by  the 
provision  that  'the  court  in  its  discretion'  may  order  the 
husband  to  pay  her  expenses  of  suit,  as,  of  course  she  has 
to  raise  the  money  first  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  that 
provision.  I  know  of  one  woman  whose  cause  for  divorce, 
adultery,  and  a  flagrant  case,  was  lost  by  a  lapse  of  time 
before  she  could,  while  supporting  herself  and  children,  save 
enough  money  to  sue."  As  it  is  unethical  for  an  attorney 
to  advance  the  costs  in  a  divorce  case  or  to  take  such  a  case 
on  a  contingency  basis,  the  one  person  who  best  knows  the 
merits  of  the  claim  is  barred  from  filling  the  financial  breach. 
While  it  is  true  that  the  wife's  earnings  after  she  leaves  her 
husband  are  her  separate  property,  too  often  after  "making 
a  home"  she  is  fitted  for  nothing  but  housework,  she  is 
quite  out  of  touch  with  the  trades  and  professions  by  which 
she  might  earn  a  decent  income,  and,  especially  if  she  has 
the  encumbrance  of  children,  she  is  at  a  serious  disad- 
vantage.    Tlie  difficulty  is  not  easy  to  surmount  for  it  may 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  68 

be  questioned  whether  giving  the  wife  a  share  in  the  control 
of  the  community  property  is  practicable,  or,  if  practicable, 
if  it  would  be  a  remedy.  The  wife,  under  the  present  system 
is  economically  dependent  on  the  husband  because  it  is  not 
customary  for  married  women  to  do  work  that  brings  in 
money.  That  economic  dependence  is  the  fundamental  in- 
equality. What  is  really  necessary  is  a  change  in  sentiment 
and  custom,  which  would  cause  as  a  sequence  a  change  of 
law. 

Regarding  the  right  to  the  custody  and  the  duty  of 
supporting  children  the  discrimination  in  California  seems 
somewhat  in  favor  of  the  mother  as  against  the  father.  At 
the  first  session  of  the  legislature  after  the  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment, Sec.  197  of  the  Civil  Code  was  amended  to  give  the 
mother  an  equal  right  with  the  father  to  the  custody, 
services  and  earnings  of  a  legitimate  unmarried  minor,  even 
(Sec.  198)  while  the  parents  are  living  separately.  In  the 
same  year  Section  196a  was  added  making  the  father  as 
well  as  the  mother  of  an  illegitimate  child  liable  for  its 
support  and  education,  though  the  mother  is  still  (Sec.  2C0) 
entitled  to  its  custody,  services  and  earnings.  The  mother, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  liable  for  the  support  and  education  of 
a  legitimate  child  only  in  case  that  which  the  father  is 
able  to  give  is  inadequate  (Sec.  196). 

A  guardian  of  a  legitimate  child  may  be  appointed  by 
will  by  the  father  with  the  written  consent  of  the  mother, 
or  by  either  if  the  other  be  dead  or  incapable  of  consent. 
The  mother  only  of  an  illegitimate  child  has  power  to  make 
such  an  appointment. 

In  the  penal  law  such  discrimination  as  appears  is 
rather  in  favor  of  women  than  against  them.  Section  26  of 
the  Penal  Code  provides  that  "married  women  (except  for 
felonies)  acting  under  the  threats,  command,  or  coercion  of 
their  husbands"  are  not  capable  of  committing  crimes. 

Sections  270a,  270b,  270d,  and  273h  have  recently  been 
added.     The  three  first  named  provide  for  the  punishment 


«4  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  ' 

(as  a  felony  or  disdemeanor  in  the  discretion  of  the  court) 
of  husbands  who  fail  to  provide  for  their  wives,  for  the 
suspension  of  proceedings  in  such  a  case  upon  surety  being 
ffiven  for  provision  for  the  wife,  and  for  the  payment  (in  the 
discretion  of  the  court)  of  any  fine  imposed  to  the  wife. 
Section  273h  provides  that  defendant  in  such  a  case  may  be 
sentenced  to  work  on  public  work,  and  that  if  he  is  so 
sentenced  the  county  supervisors  may  order  a  sum,  not  to 
exceed  $1.50  for  each  day's  work,  to  be  paid  to  the  wife. 
In  practice  this  law  does  not  work  out  as  favorably  to  the 
wife  as  might  appear  on  its  face,  for  it  is  not  often  enforced 
except  when  she  is  left  with  small  children  on  her  hands, 
as  juries  are  ready  to  see  the  power  it  might  give  a  selfish 
or  unscrupulous  woman  over  her  husband. 

Working  women  are  given  especial  protection  from 
industrial  wrongs  by  two  penal  statutes  (not  embodied  in 
the  Code),  one  prohibiting  the  employment  of  women  at 
less  than  an  adequate  living  wage,  and  the  other  prohibiting 
t:ie  employment  of  women  in  certain  occupations  for  more 
tl.an  eight  hours  a  day  or  forty-eight  hours  a  week. 

"The  penal  laws  protecting  women  are  fairly  complete 
and  satisfactory  in  California,"  declares  Miss  Margaret 
Gardner.  "There  are  several  sections  of  the  Penal  Code 
forbidding,  as  felonies,  the  abduction  of  women,  seducing 
them  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution  or  holding  them  under 
duress  for  that  purpose,  and  buying  or  selling  them.  The 
section  punishing  seduction  under  promise  of  marriage, 
however,  has  been  interpreted  as  not  covering  cases  where 
th  man  acts  under  the  cloak  of  a  former  marriage,  promis- 
ing an  immediate  divorce  and  marriage  as  soon  as  he  is 
"free."  But  young  girls  are  protected  from  such  men  by 
the  fact  that  the  age  of  consent  in  rape  cases  is  eighteen 
years.  A  provision  that  v/lien  the  girl  is  over  sixteen  but 
under  eighteen  the  offense  may  be  punished  as  a  misde- 
meanor makes  it  enforceable  in  practice.  Panderers  are 
punishable  as  felons. 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  65 

"The  penal  law  regarding  prostitution  is  one-sided,  at 
least  in  its  enforcement,  as  the  prostitute  is  punished  as  a 
vagrant  while  the  man  who  employs  her  is  not.  This  distinc- 
tion is,  perhaps,  not  intrinsic  in  the  law,  but  arises  rather 
in  its  customary  application.  That  a  public  sentiment  is 
growing  which  may  soon  change  this  condition  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  in  some  cities — Los  Angeles,  for  example 
— ordinances  are  in  force  under  which  both  are  punished 
in  cases  of  resort  to  rooming-houses,  hotels  and  other 
public  places. 

"A  brief  comment  upon  actual  conditions  in  California," 
continues  Miss  Gardner,  "is  perhaps  necessary:  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  just  statutes  do  not  necessarily  give 
justice  and  equality  before  the  law,  nor  does  it  mean  equality 
before  the  law's  administrators.  For  example:  there  is 
nothing  in  the  law  of  California  to  prevent  the  selection  of 
women  for  jury  duty,  but  as  a  matter  of  practice  they  are 
almost  never  so  selected.  Instances  might  be  multiplied  of 
cases  where  law  and  custom  do  not  coincide. 

"This  is  due  to  a  prejudice  among  men  which  (I  speak 
from  personal  experience)  can  be  overcome  if  women  who 
go  into  the  professions  or  into  public  office  without  demand- 
ing especial  consideration  or  especial  privilege  and  quietly, 
by  real  effort  and  ability,  succeed.  The  method  of  forcing 
public  opinion  by  means  of  legislation  creating  special  offices 
for  women  is  deplorably  short-sighted.  For  instance:  Los 
Angeles  has  five  police  judges;  there  is  nothing  in  the  law 
to  make  women  ineligible  for  the  office  of  judge;  but  it  was 
attempted  to  force  the  enactment  of  a  law  creating  the  office 
of  "woman  police  judge."  Fortunately  the  effort  failed. 
Such  a  law  would,  by  implication,  make  women  ineligible  for 
the  five  other  offices  and  take  from  them  their  equality  with 
men  before  the  law.  To  a  certain  extent,  public  opinion 
governs  the  administration  of  the  law.  But  without  equal 
lavv's  public  opinion  cannot  give  equality. 

"Watchful  waiting"  and  quiet  preparation  for  the  oppor- 


€6  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

tunities  that  are  coming  to  them  is  all  that  California 
women  need  to  gain  perfect  equality.  They  should  adopt 
Charles  Kingsley's  rule  as  amended  by  Mr.  Eugene  Manlove 
Rhodes:  "Make  good,  sweet  maid,  and  let  who  will  be 
clever." 

Minors  in  California  who  are  less  than  fifteen  years  of 
age  are  not  peiTtiitted  to  work  in  gainful  occupations,  except 
that  minors  between  twelve  and  fifteen  are  permitted,  with 
stipulated  consent,  to  work  in  vacation  and  out  of  school 
hours  if  they  have  certain  prescribed  school  certificates  and 
are  physically  able. 

Children  under  sixteen  are  not  permitted  to  work  in 
places  physically  or  morally  dangerous. 

Minors  under  eighteen  are  prohibited  from  working 
more  than  eight  hours  in  any  day  or  between  10  p.m.  and 
5  a.m.,  and  minors  under  eighteen  are  not  permitted  to  dis- 
tribute messages  between  9  p.m.  and  6  a.m. 

School  attendance  is  made  obligatory  except  where 
children  have  certificates  which  have  been  issued  for  the 
reasons  legally  provided  entitling  them  to  work. 

California  has  the  "Red  Light"  or  "Abatement  Law" 
which  provides  that  where  a  building  has  been  used  for 
immoral  purposes  it  shall  be  closed  for  one  year,  on  convic- 
tion of  the  proprietor. 

In  1915  Orfa  Jean  Shonts  was  appointed  Referee  in 
Juvenile  Court  matters  at  Los  Angeles,  with  all  of  the 
powers  of  a  referee  in  Chancery  Courts  or  the  judge  thereof 
and  Judge  Shonts,  in  establishing  her  court  appointed 
women  as  bailiffs,  clerks,  etc.,  and  between  Nov.  1,  1915  and 
Nov,  1,  1916  there  was  disposed  of  by  her  1,575  cases. 

With  parents  consent  a  girl  may  marry  in  California 
at  fifteen  years,  and  without  parental  consent  at  eighteen. 

The  inheritance  tax  on  property  is  as  follows: 

To  husband  or  wife,  ascendants  or  descendants,  one  per 
cent,  to  $25,000,  two  per  cent,  from  $25,000  to  $50,000,  four 
per  cent,  from  $50,000  to  $100,000,  seven  per  cent,  from 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  67 

$100,000  to  $200,000,  ten  per  cent.  from";200,000  to  $300,000 
$24,000  is  exempt  to  widow  or  minor  child,  and  to  the  other 
beneficiaries  herein  named  $10,000  is  exempt. 

Under  the  California  Constitution  there  is  a  provision 
for  needy  orphans  which  requires  the  State  to  provide  $100 
per  annum  for  each  orphan  and  $75  per  annum  for  each  half- 
orphan  under  the  age  of  fourteen  years  and  by  an  amend- 
ment in  1913  it  is  further  provided  that  "in  addition  to  the 
amount  paid  by  the  State  for  each  orphan  maintained  at 
home  by  the  mother,  the  county,  city  and  county,  city  or 
town  may  pay  for  the  support  of  such  orphan  or  half  orphan 
an  amount  equal  to  the  sum  paid  by  the  State." 

San  Francisco  in  1916  established  a  Night  Court  and 
a  Woman's  Court  where  only  women  offenders  are  tried  and 
to  this  latter  court  San  Francisco  has  set  the  good  example 
of  appointing  as  prosecutor  a  woman,  Mrs.  Jean  De  Greayer. 

Margaret  Gardner  says  of  the  lav/s  of  her  State:  "I  \ 
may  say  that  the  inequalities  of  our  laws  are  largely  in 
favor  of  women,  rather  than  against  them.     This  is  espe-  > 
cially  true  since  the  Amendments  following  the  Suffrage 
Amendment.     I  think  the  status  of  women  in  California  of 
especial  interest  from  that  very  fact." 


COLORADO. 

The  woman  who  familiarizes  herself  with  the  outlines 
of  the  laws  of  Colorado,  California  and  other  Western 
States  must  realize  what  a  great  service  to  womankind 
these  States  have  conferred  in  their  broad  and  beneficent 
legislation  for  women  and  minors.  The  women  of  the  West 
are  the  pathfinders  in  the  law  for  their  sisters  elsewhere. 
Gladys  Fox,  one  of  the  foremost  women  lawyers  in  the  West, 
from  her  office  at  Sterling,  Colorado,  sends  for  the  con- 
sideration of  other  women,  the  following  Colorado  laws 
which  have  been  in  effect  and  found  good  for  the  woman 
citizen : 


68  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

Sec.  4189,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides :  "Any  woman  may,  while 
married,  execute  any  bond,  bill,  promissory  note  or  other 
instrument  in  writing  for  the  direct  payment  of  money,  and 
if  the  consideration  thereof  went  tothe  benefit  of  her  estate 
she  shall  be  liable  therefor  in  an  action  at  law,  and  a  judg- 
ment obtained  against  her  thereon  in  a  court  of  record  shall 
be  a  lien  on  her  real  estate,  and  execution  may  issue  on 
such  judgment  as  in  other  cases." 

This  gives  to  a  woman  the  same  right  to  bind  and 
obligate  herself  which  is  man's,  and  the  woman  citizen  hav- 
ing that  right  should  be,  and  usually  desires  to  be,  held 
to  the  same  accounting.  It  is  the  surest  way  to  teach 
women  to  walk  alone.  It  is  a  condition  of  servitude  when 
the  law  of  a  State  withholds  from  married  women  the  right 
to  contract  freely  and  to  be  held  for  their  contractural 
obhgations. 

Sec.  4191,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides: 

"Any  woman  while  married  may  contract  debts  in  her 
own  name  and  upon  her  own  credit  and  may  execute  prom- 
issory notes,  bonds,  bills  of  exchange  and  other  instruments 
in  writing  and  may  enter  into  any  contract  the  same  as  a 
sole." 

The  court  in  the  case  of  Button  vs.  Higgens,  5th  Ann. 
p.  167,  says:  "The  business  affairs  with  regard  to  which 
a  married  woman  can  contract  is  unlimited." 

Sec.  4190,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides : 

"That  hereafter  any  woman,  while  married,  may  bar- 
gain, sell  or  convey  her  real  and  personal  property,  and  enter 
into  any  contract  in  reference  thereto  as  if  she  were  sole." 

Sc.  4181,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides : 

"The  property,  real  and  personal,  which  any  woman 
in  this  State  may  own  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  and  the 
debts,  issues,  profits  and  proceeds  thereof,  and  any  real, 
personal  or  mixed  property  which  shall  come  to  her  by 
descent,  devise  or  bequest,  or  the  gift  of  any  person  except 
her  husband,   but  including   gifts   from   her   husband   as 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  69 

jewelry,  silver,  tableware,  watches,  money  and  wearing  ap- 
parel, shall  remain  her  sole  and  separate  property,  not- 
withstanding her  marriage,  and  is  not  subject  to  the  disposal 
of  her  husband  or  liable  for  his  debts." 

Sec.  4182,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides : 

"Any  woman  may,  while  married,  sue  and  be  sued  in 
all  matters  having  relation  to  her  property,  person  or  repu- 
tation in  the  same  manner  as  if  she  were  sole. 

Sec.  4183,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides: 

"Any  married  woman  may  carry  on  any  trade  or  busi- 
ness and  perform  any  labor  or  service  on  her  sole  and 
separate  account,  and  the  earnings  of  any  married  woman, 
from  her  trade,  business  labor  or  services  shall  be  her  sole 
and  separate  property  and  may  be  used  and  invested  by 
her  in  her  own  name ;  and  she  may  sue  and  be  sued  as  if  sole 
in  regard  to  her  trade,  business,  labor,  services  and  earn- 
ings and  her  property  acquired  by  trade,  business  and 
services,  and  the  proceeds  thereof  may  be  taken  on  any 
execution  against  her." 

Sec.  4188  Colo.  Stat.  Provides— 

"The  separate  deed  of  the  husband  shall  convey  no 
interest  in  the  wife's  lands." 

Sec.  514,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides: 

"That  any  chattel  mortgage  upon,  and  any  sale  of  the 
household  goods  used  by  the  family,  when  given  or  made 
by  the  husband  or  wife  residing  with  the  other,  shall  not  be 
valid  unless  executed  or  made  by  the  husband  and  wife 
jointly." 

Sec.  7006,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides: 

"No  assignment  of  his  wages  or  salary  by  a  married 
man,  who  shall  be  the  head  of  a  family  residing  in  this 
State,  shall  be  valid  or  enforceable  without  the  consent  of  his 
wife,  evidenced  by  her  signature  to  said  assignment  exe- 
cuted and  acknowledged  before  a  Notary  Public  or  other 
officer  empowered  to  take  acknowledgments  of  conveyances, 
and  no  wage  broker  or  person  connected  with  him  indirectly 


70  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

or  directly  shall  be  authorized  to  take  any  such  acknowledg- 
ment." 

Sec.  7014,  Colo.  Stat.  Provides : 

"No  assignment  of  wages  not  already  earned  at  the 
time  of  such  asignment  and  no  assignment  of  any  sum  to 
become  due  the  assignor  after  the  date  of  such  assignment 
shall  be  valid,  unless,  if  the  assignor  be  a  married  man  or 
woman  and  residing  with  a  wife  or  husband,  such  wife  or 
husband  shall  join  in  and  shall  sign  such  assignment." 

No  husband  or  wife  can  devise  or  bequeath  away  from 
the  other  more  than  one-half  of  his  or  her  estate  without 
the  consent  in  writing  of  the  other.  Thus  does  Colorado 
secure  to  the  woman  an  exact  equality  with  the  man  in 
property  rights,  and  the  husband  in  Colorado  cannot  say, 
as  husbands  can  in  many  of  the  other  States :  "What  is  my 
wife's  is  mine,  and  what  is  mine  is  my  very  own." 

An  Act  relating  to  Wills  Provides : 

Seel — "Every  person  aged  twenty-one  years,  if  a  male, 
or  eighteen  years  if  a  female,  being  of  sound  mind  and 
memory  shall  have  thie  power  to  give  and  devise,  by  will 
or  testament,  any  or  all  of  the  estate,  right,  title  or  interest 
in  possesions,  reversion  or  remainder,  which  he  or  she  hath, 
or  at  the  time  of  his  or  her  death  shall  have,  of,  in  and  to 
any  lands,  tenements,  heriditaments,  annuities  or  rents, 
charged  upon  or  issuing  out  of  them,  and  every  person  of  the 
age  of  seventeen  years  shall  have  the  power  to  give  and 
bequeath  by  will  or  testament,  any  or  all  of  his  or  her, 
goods,  chattels  and  personal  estate  of  every  description. 

If  any  testator  or  testatrix,  leaving  a  wife  or  husband, 
him  or  her  surviving,  shall  by  will  give,  bequeath  or  devise 
away  from  such  surviving  wife  or  husband  more  than  one- 
half  of  his  or  her  property  or  estate,  such  surviving  wife 
or  husband  more  than  one-half  of  his  or  her  property  or 
estate,  such  surviving  wife  oi'  husband  maj,  in  her  or  his 
option,  and  notwithstanding  such  will,  take  and  receive  one- 
half  of  the  property  or  estate,  both  real  and  personal  of 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  71 

such  testator  or  testatrix:  Provided  such  surviving  wife  or 
husband  exercise  such  option  by  filing  in  the  county  court  in 
which  such  will  is  admitted  to  probate,  within  six  months 
thereafter,  her  or  his  election  in  writing,  to  take  and  receive 
one-half  of  said  property  or  estate  and  upon  the  filing  of 
such  election  within  said  time,  any  such  will  shall  be 
conclusive  evidence  of  the  consent  of  the  surviving  wife  or 
husband  to  the  provisions  of  such  will. 

There  is  a  commission  which  regulates  the  wages  of 
women  and  children,  and  they  must  be  paid  the  "necessary 
cost  of  living,  to  maintain  them  in  health  and  to  supply  the 
necessary  comforts  of  Kfe."  Under  sixteen  years  of  age 
minors  cannot  work  in  underground  works,  mines,  etc. 
Under  ten  girls  cannot  sell  papers  or  other  matter  on  the 
streets  or  in  public  places.  Under  sixteen  years  of  age 
minors  are  prohibited  from  working  where  liquor  is  sold. 

Colorado  has  compulsory  education  for  children  under 
fourteen  years  of  age. 

There  must  be  seats  for  women  in  manufacturing  and 
mercantile  establishments. 

Colorado  has  a  Mothers'  Pension  Law  and  is  a  Pro- 
hibition State  and  has  equal  suffrage  for  men  and  women. 

The  age  of  consent  is  eighteen  years  and  the  penalty 
for  rape  is  imprisonment  from  three  years  to  a  life  term. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  ascendants  or  lineal  descendants,  brother  or 
sister,  of  two  per  cent,  above  $10,000  which  is  exempt.  To 
uncle,  aunt,  niece,  or  their  descendants,  three  per  cent.  To 
all  others  the  tax  is  three  per  cent,  from  $500  to  $10,000, 
four  per  cent,  on  $10,000  to  $20,000,  from  $20,000  to  $50,- 
000  it  is  six  per  cent. 

Broadly  speaking  the  State  of  Colorado  secures  as  the 
separate  property  to  the  wife  all  that  she  owned  at  the  time 
of  her  marriage  or  afterward  acquired.  She  can  contract 
as  a  sole,  her  earnings  go  to  her  separate  estate  and  remain 


72  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

entirely  under  her  conti'ol,  and  her  property  is  not  hable 
for  the  debts  of  her  husband.  Neither  husband  nor  wife 
can  ahenate  by  will  more  than  half  of  his  or  her  estate. 

The  prohibition  placed  upon  the  pledge  of  a  man's  wages, 
unless  the  pledge  is  concurred  in  by  the  wife,  and  such  con- 
currence is  voluntary  and  so  evidenced  by  the  aflirmation  of 
the  notary  that  he  knows  the  woman  and  has  questioned 
her  apart  from  her  husband  and  she  has  declared  herself 
willing  the  wages  of  her  husband  shall  be  pledged,  is  far 
reaching  in  its  protection  of  women  and  children.  It  secures 
to  the  home  of  the  wage  earner  the  support  due  and  protects 
men  from  themselves. 

The  laws  regulating  divorce  are  as  follows : 

First.  That  the  spouse  from  whom  a  divorce  is  sought 
was  impotent,  or  became  impotent  through  immoral  conduct 
committed  after  the  marriage. 

Second.     That  the  spouse  had  a  husband  or  wife  living. 

Third.  That  the  spouse  has  committed  adultery  since 
the  marriage. 

Fourth.  That  the  spouse  has  wilfully  deserted  the 
other  spouse  for  the  period  of  one  year. 

Fifth.  That  the  spouse  has  been  extremely  and 
repeatedly  cruel  towards  the  other  spouse. 

Sixth.  That  the  husband,  being  in  good  bodily  health, 
has  failed  to  make  reasonable  provision  for  the  support 
of  his  family  one  year  or  more. 

Seventh.  That  the  spouse  has  been  a  habitual  drunkard 
or  drug  fiend. 

Eighth.  That  the  spouse  ha  s  been  convicted  of  a 
felony. 

A  divorce  shall  not  in  any  wise  affect  the  legitimacy  of 
any  child  of  a  marriage,  nor  its  right  to  inherit  the  property 
of  its  father  and  mother. 

No  person  shall  be  granted  a  divorce  unless  such  person 
has  been  a  bona  fide  resident  and  citizen  during  one  year. 

In  »ny  action  for  divorce  the  defendant  may  file  a 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  73 

cross  complaint  in  which  may  be  set  forth  any  one  or 
more  causes  for  divorce  against  the  plaintiff;  and  if  upon 
the  trial  of  such  action  both  parties  shall  be  found  guilty  of 
any  one  or  more  of  the  causes  for  divorce,  then  a  divorce 
shall  not  be  granted  to  either  of  said  parties. 


CONNECTICUT. 


There  is  no  age  limitation  in  the  Connecticut  laws  for 
contracting  marriage,  and  once  mai'ried  the  laws  are  not 
friendly  to  untying  the  agreement.  A  residence  of  three 
years  within  the  State  is  necessary  to  entitle  the  citizen 
to  apply  for  divorce  and,  among  other  grounds  for  divorce 
are  desertion  and  total  neglect  of  duty  for  three  years, 
habitual  drunkenness,  cruelty,  or  if  one  of  the  spouses  has 
left  the  marital  abode  and  has  not  been  heard  from  in  seven 
years. 

There  is  a  distinct  line  of  demarkation  in  the  pi'operty 
rights  of  persons  married  subsequent  to  1877.  Parties 
married  before  April  20th,  1877,  may,  by  written  contract, 
duly  recorded,  substitute  for  their  rights  as  existing  at  that 
date  those  given  to  parties  thereafter  married.  The 
husband  married  before  April  20th,  1877,  has  a  right  to  the 
use  of  the  wife's  real  estate  during  her  life  and  an  estate 
by  curtesy  after  her  death.  All  the  personal  property  of 
any  woman  married  since  the  22nd  of  June,  1849,  and  before 
April  20th,  1877,  and  all  of  the  personal  property  acquired 
thereafter  by  a  married  woman,  and  the  avails  of  such 
property  if  sold,  shall  vest  in  the  husband  in  trust,  to  receive 
and  enjoy  the  incom.e  thereof  during  his  life,  subject  to  the 
duty  of  spending  therefrom  so  much  as  may  be  necessary 
for  the  support  of  his  wife  and  children.  Upon  his  death 
tiie  remaindei'  of  the  trust  property  shall  be  transferred 
to  the  wife,  if  living,  otherwise  as  she  may  by  will  have 


74  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

directed,  or  in  default  of  such  will  to  those  entitled  by  law 
to  succeed  to  her  estate.  A  marriage  contract  after 
April  20th,  1877,  gives  neither  the  husband  nor  wife  any 
interest  in  the  property  of  the  other,  except  as  a  survivor. 
Her  earnings  are  her  own  property.  The  property  of  either 
is  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  the  other,  unless  they  be  for 
the  support  of  the  family  for  which  the  husband  is  liable. 
On  the  death  of  either  the  survivor  has  the  use  for  life  of 
one-third  of  the  property,  real  and  personal,  which  right 
cannot  be  defeated  by  the  will  of  either.  If  there  be  no  will 
the  survivor  takes  one-third  absolutely,  and  if  there  is  no 
issue,  one-half.  They  may  contract  either  before  or  after 
marriage  for  a  provision  in  lieu  of  this  statutory  share. 

The  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to  husband, 
wife,  ascendant  or  descendants,  is  one  per  cent,  from  $10,000 
to  $50,000,  tv>^o  per  cent,  on  $50,000  to  $250,000,  three  per 
cent,  on  $250,000  to  $1,000,000. 

The  father  and  mother  are  given  equal  rights  in  the 
custody  and  guardianship  of  their  children. 

Minors  and  women  are  prohibited  from  working  more 
than  ten  hours  in  any  day  or  more  than  fifty-eight  hours 
in  a  week.  This  regulation  to  ten  hours  must  be  considered 
as  beneficent — many  poeple  believe  electrocution  kinder  than 
hanging  by  the  neck  until  dead.  With  so  great  a  number 
of  cotton  and  other  m.anufacturing  plants  as  operate  in  the 
State  of  Connecticut  wherein  women  and  children  are  so 
largely  employed  it  would  seem  that  the  "woman's 
influence,"  minus  a  woman's  ballot,  has  left  much  to  be 
desired. 


DELAWARE. 


The  State  of  Delaware  declares  the  personal  property 
owned  by  the  wife  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  or  acquired 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  75 

by  her  after  her  marriage  is  her  separate  property  not  sub- 
ject to  the  disposition  of  her  husband  nor  hable  for  his  debts, 
but  the  wife  cannot  dispose  of  this  property,  notwithstand- 
ing it  is  her  "very  own,"  without  the  consent  of  her  husband. 
Nor  can  a  married  woman  mortgage  her  separate  real 
estate  without  the  consent  of  her  husband. 

The  earnings  of  a  wife  are  her  separate  property  and 
not  subject  in  any  way  to  the  husband's  authority. 

A  widow  is  entitled  to  dower,  as  at  common  law,  but  if 
the  husband  dies  without  leaving  issue  she  is  entitled  to 
one-half  instead  of  one-third  of  the  real  estate. 

Mnors  under  twelve  years  are  prohibited  from  v/orking 
in  factories,  but  canneries  where  perishable  vegetables  and 
fruits  are  canned  are  excepted. 

Minors  under  fourteen  are  not  permitted  to  work  at 
any  gainful  occupation  during  school  hours. 

No  person  of  less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age  shall 
work  in  any  bar  room. 

Children  between  seven  and  fourteen  years  must  attend 
school  at  least  five  months  in  each  year,  and  there  is  pro- 
hibition of  employment  of  children  in  places  dangerous 
morally  or  physically. 

Seats  must  be  provided  in  mercantile  establishments 
for  women. 

One  day  in  a  week  a  woman  may  be  employed  for  twelve 
hours,  and  in  manufacturing  establishments,  laundries, 
printing  plants,  bakeries,  telephone  or  telegraph  offices  they 
are  limited  to  ten  hours  work  a  day. 

The  State  of  Delaware  has  no  minimum  age  when 
minors  may  contract  a  valid  marriage. 

Among  other  grounds  for  divorce  are  desertion  for  two 
years  or  neglect  to  provide  for  three  years,  habitual  drunk- 
enness and  cruelty. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  ascendants  or  descendants.  To  all  others 
there  is  an  exemption  of  $500  and  above  that  a  tax  of  one 


76  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

per  cent,  to  brothers,  sisters  or  their  descendants ;  two  per 
cent,  to  great  uncles,  great  aunts  or  their  descendants.  To 
all  others  five  per  cent. 

Delaware  has  not  only  capital  punishment  and  gradu- 
ated fines  and  imprisonment  for  conviction  of  violations  of 
the  law,  but  sanctions  whipping  for  certain  offenses. 

The  conti'ol  and  guardianship  of  children  is  given 
preferably  to  the  father  and  he  may  by  will  name  a  guardian 
even  though  the  mother  survive. 

There  is  local  option  in  several  counties. 

The  age  of  consent  is  eighteen  years  and  the  penalty 
for  rape  is  a  fine  of  not  more  than  $1,000  or  imprisonment 
for  not  more  than  twenty  years. 


DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA 

Sec.  940  of  the  Code  provides  that  if  a  person  die  intes- 
tate his  real  estate  shall  descend  to  his  lawful  heirs  in  the  di- 
rect line  of  lineal  descent  equally.  Sec.  955  provides  that  both 
in  the  descending  and  collateral  lines  the  inheritance  shall  be 
distributed  per  stirpes — "They  shall,  by  representation,  be 
considered  in  the  same  degree  as  the  father  or  mother  would 
have  been  if  living,  and  take  the  share  that  would  have  gone 
to  the  deceased  parent."  If  there  are  no  lineal  descendants 
the  estate,  if  acquired  from  the  father,  goes  to  the  brothers 
and  sisters  of  the  blood  of  the  father  or  their  representa- 
tives, then  to  the  grandfather  and  his  descendants  until  the 
heirs  fail  and  then  to  the  mother  and  her  descendants  and  to 
maternal  ancestors  and  their  descendants.  When  the  estate 
comiss  by  inheritance  from  the  mother  it  goes  to  her  brothers 
and  sisters  of  tlie  blood,  then  ascends  to  the  mother's  ances- 
tors. Emily  A.  Spillman,  a  woman  lawyer  of  the  Bar  of 
Washington  City  explains  the  laws  of  intestacy  and  descent 
further  in  an  article  under  that  head,  as  follows: 

"The  inheritance  in  the  husband  or  wife  of  the  intestate 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  77 

is  deferred  until  all  of  these  designated  lines  fail.  If 
the  husband  or  wife  should  be  dead,  then  the  inheritance 
passes  to  the  kindred  of  such  husband  and  wife,  and  where 
the  intestate  had  been  more  than  once  married  and  the  sev- 
eral husbands  and  wives  have  died  before  the  intestate,  the 
estate  shall  be  divided  among  the  kindred  of  all  of  them  in 
equal  degree  equally. 

Ante-nuptial  children  are  made  legitimate  upon  the 
marriage  of  their  parents,  and  capable  in  law  of  inheriting 
and  transmitting  property  as  though  born  in  wedlock. 

Illegitimate  children  can  inherit  from  their  mother  or 
from  each  other  or  the  descendants  of  each  other,  the  only 
exception  being,  that  the  child  cannot  take  by  inheritance 
from  the  mother  if  she  was  mentally  incapable  of  making  a 
will  and  remained  so  until  her  death.  The  mother  can  in- 
herit from  the  child  when  descendants  or  brothers  or  sisters 
and  their  descendants  fail,  and  if  the  mother  is  dead,  her 
heirs  can  take  as  though  the  child  had  been  legitimate." 

The  labor  laws  in  effect  in  the  District  of  Columbia  are 
the  work  of  Congress  and  provide  that  children  under  four- 
teen years  of  age  shall  not  be  employed  in  any  occupation 
dangerous  to  life,  limb  or  morals  nor  in  any  factory,  mill, 
workshop  or  mercantile  establishment,  nor  after  seven  in  the 
evening  or  before  six  in  the  morning.  Only  in  the  event  that 
labor  is  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  child  or  an  invalid 
father,  mother,  younger  brother  or  sister  may  children  be- 
tween twelve  and  fourteen  be  employed  in  any  gainful  occu- 
pation. Children  between  foui'teen  and  sixteen  must  have 
school  certificates  if  permitted  to  work.  Boys  under  ten  and 
girls  of  less  than  sixteen  years  of  age  are  prohibited  from 
selling  papers  or  merchandise  on  the  public  streets  or  in 
public  places  without  a  badge  or  pemiit  issued  by  the  Super- 
intendent of  Schools. 

Seats  must  be  provided  for  females  who  work  in  stores, 
offices,  shops  or  manufactories. 

The  District  of  Columbia  has  a  Red  Light  Injunction 
and  Abatement  Law. 


78  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

The  age  of  consent  is  sixteen  and  the  punishment  for 
rape  of  a  woman  is  imprisonment  from  five  to  thirty  years. 

Marriages  may  be  annulled  for  lunacy,  fraud,  coercion, 
physical  incapacity  and  lack  of  having  attained  the  proper 
age  at  time  of  marriage. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property. 


FLORIDA. 


Florida  retains  much  of  the  sentiment  of  the  old  laws 
which  obtained  in  all  that  section  which  was  once  French 
and  Spanish  territory,  hence,  while  the  property  owned  by 
a  woman  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  remains  her  separate 
estate  and  is  free  from  liability  for  the  debts  of  her  husband, 
she  cannot  sell,  mortgage  or  otherwise  hypothecate  it  with- 
out the  consent  of  her  husband.  She  can  make  contracts 
with  regard  to  this  separate  property — always,  however, 
such  contracts  require  the  consent  of  her  husband.  In 
conveying  her  separate  estate  she  must  make  a  separate 
acknowledgment,  apart  from  her  husband,  as  well  as  the 
joint  agreement  of  conveyance.  From  the  time  of  marriage 
the  wife's  property  passes  under  the  management  and 
control  of  the  husband  and  there  is  no  relief  provided  her  in 
the  law  against  her  husband's  mismanagement  or  recourse 
against  him  for  rents,  revenues,  etc.,  from  her  separate 
property  while  under  his  management.  The  earnings  of 
the  wife  belong  to  her  to  do  with  as  she  pleases. 

There  are  laws  in  Florida  regulating  the  hours  of  labor 
for  minors  but  none  for  the  protection  of  women  who  labor. 
A  child  less  than  fifteen  years  of  age  may  not  be  employed 
for  more  than  sixty  days  by  any  person,  firm,  corporation, 
etc.,  without  the  consent  of  the  parents.  Under  sixteen 
years  of  age  minors  are  prohibited  from  working  more 
than  nine  hours  each  day. 

No  person  less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age  will  be 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  79 

permitted  to  work  in  a  saloon.  There  are  regulations  which 
are  intended  to  insure  seats  to  women  employees  in  stores 
and  to  protect  minors  under  sixteen  from  working  in  any- 
place dangerous  to  morals  or  life  and  limb. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property. 

Among  other  grounds  for  divorce  are  desertion  of  one 
year,  cruelty,  habitual  drunkenness,  violent  temper  and  rela- 
tionship within  the  prohibited  degree. 


GEORGIA. 


All  property  of  the  wife  at  the  time  of  her  marriage, 
and  all  property  acquired  by  her  during  coverture,  is  her 
separate  property  and  is  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  the 
husband,  but  she  cannot  sell,  mortgage  or  otherwise 
hypothecate  such  property  without  the  consent  of  her  hus- 
band. The  domicile  of  the  husband  is  deemed  the  legal 
domicile  of  the  wife,  no  matter  where  she  lives. 
The  husband  is  deemed  the  head  of  the  marital  partnership 
and  is  liable  for  the  support  of  the  v/ife  and  children. 

A  female  of  the  age  of  fourteen  may  contract  a  valid 
marriage  with  the  consent  of  her  parents,  or  at  eighteen 
without  parental  consent.  Among  other  grounds  for 
divorce  are  desertion  of  three  years,  cruelty,  fraud  in 
obtaining  marriage  and  relationship  within  the  prohibited 
degree. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  lineal  descendant,  brother,  sister  or  daughter- 
in-law  of  one  per  cent  above  $5,000.  To  all  other  persons 
five  per  cent. 

The  labor  day  is  restricted  to  ten  hours,  or  sixty  hours 
in  a  v/eek,  and  by  specific  rule  bosses  and  managers  or 
overseers  in  factories  are  forbidden  to  inflict  corporal  pun- 
ishment on  minors  and  no  child  under  twelve  shall  be  sold, 
apprenticed,  given  away  or  hired  out  for  rope  or  wire  walk- 
ing, or  as  gymnast  or  acrobat  or  for  any  indecent  exhibition 


80  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

or  practice.  Minors  under  twelve  are  forbidden  to  work  in 
any  mill  or  factory. 

Children  under  fourteen  are  forbidden  to  work  at 
gainful  occupations  unless  it  be  necessary  for  their  own 
support  or  that  of  a  widowed  mother,  aged  or  disabled 
father,  and  work  at  night  is  forbidden. 

Seats  are  required  to  be  furnished  for  women  employed 
in  mercantile  establishments. 

The  guardianship  of  children  is  left  entirely  to  the 
discretion  of  the  courts. 

There  is  no  "age  of  consent"  in  Georgia  but  the  rule 
which  has  obtained  in  the  United  States,  in  the  absence  of 
special  Statute,  that  a  child  of  less  than  ten  years  would 
not  to  be  held  to  consent  to  her  own  defilement,  has  been  fol- 
lowed.   The  penalty  for  rape  is  death. 


ILLINOIS. 


A  married  woman  in  Illinois  may  own  in  her  own  right 
real  and  personal  property  and  she  may  manage,  sell  and 
convey  the  same ;  her  earnings,  and  when  invested,  the  rents, 
revenues  and  issues  of  such  earnings,  belong  to  her  free 
from  any  control  of  her  husband  and  she  may  sue  and  be 
sued  in  all  matters  relating  to  her  own  property  or  interest. 

A  married  woman  is  not  allowed  to  engage  in  business 
as  a  public  merchant  without  the  consent  of  her  husband, 
unless  her  husband  is  insane,  imprisoned  or  has  deserted 
her,  in  which  event  she  can  be  authorized  to  pursue  her  busi- 
ness without  his  consent. 

The  husband  is  chargeable  with  the  maintenance  of  the 
conjugal  home  and  the  children,  but  if  he  has  no  means 
wherewith  to  meet  the  obligation  and  his  wife  has  property 
she  must  meet  the  expense  necessary  for  such  maintenance 
as  they  are  mutually  and  individually  liable  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  home  and  the  education  of  their  children. 

A  married  woman  may  not  enter  a  partnership  without 
the  consent  of  her  husband  and  all  of  her  contractural  obliga- 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  81 

tions  must  be  based  on  the  knowledge  and  permission  and 
consent  of  her  husband  unless  he  is  insane,  imprisoned 
or  has  deserted  her. 

Illinois  passed  the  first  Mother's  Pension  law  in  1911 
and  under  it  jurisdiction  is  given  to  the  Juvenile  Courts 
of  destitute  mothers  and  when  they  are  found  best  fitted 
to  care  for  their  children,  the  State  will  grant  fifteen  dollars 
a  month  for  one  child,  if  there  be  more  than  one  child,  then 
ten  dollars  a  month  for  each  additional  child,  the  whole  not 
to  exceed  sixty  dollars  a  month  to  any  one  family.  This 
relief  applies  only  to  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age, 
except  in  cases  where  the  child  is  ill  or  incapacitated  from 
work,  in  Vv'hich  event  the  relief  may  be  extended  until  the 
child  has  reached  the  age  of  sixteen  years. 

The  surviving  wife  or  husband  has  the  same  rights  in 
the  estate,  being  one-third  of  all  lands  owned.  If  there  are 
no  surviving  children  or  near  kindred  the  surviving  vdfe  or 
husband  is  the  heir  of  the  entire  estate.  If  there  are 
children  and  husband  or  wife  die  intestate,  one-third  of  the 
estate  in  real  property  goes  to  the  survivor  and  one-thii€ 
of  the  personal  property.  If  husband  or  wife  leaves  a  will 
and  no  descendants  he  or  she  may  take  one-half  of  the  real 
and  personal  estate. 

Women  are  prohibited  from  working  in  any  mechanical 
or  mercantile  establishment,  factory,  laundry,  hotel, 
restaurant,  telegraph  office,  express  or  transportation  com- 
pany, or  in  any  public  institution  for  more  than  ten  hours  a 
day.  Minors  are  not  allowed  to  work  for  more  than  eight 
hours  a  day.  Minors  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  must 
have  school  certificates  if  they  work.  Minors  and  females 
are  prohibited  from  working  in  saloons,  or  in  places  danger- 
ous morally  or  physically  and  minors  are  prohibited  from 
distributing  literature  in  which  there  occurs  stories  of  lust 
and  crime  and  criminal  nev/s. 

Illinois  has  many  laws  for  the  protection  of  women  and 
minors  who  work  in  factories,  mercantile  establishments  or 


82  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

other  places  where  females  and  children  are  employed,  as  to 
sanitation,  fire  prevention,  seats,  time  for  meals,  etc. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  descendants,  brother,  sister,  son-in-law, 
daughter-in-law  of  one  per  cent  on  amounts  from  $20,000 
to  $100,000,  and  above  $100,000  two  per  cent. 

A  female  of  sixteen  may  contract  a  valid  marriage 
Vv^ith  the  consent  of  her  parents  and  at  eighteen  without 
parental  consent. 

Among  other  grounds  on  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  desertion  of  tw^o  years,  habitual  drunkenness  of  two 
years,  and  cruelty,  and  the  law  provides  that  the  divorced 
party  cannot  re-marry  within  one  year  from  the  decree. 

The  age  of  consent  is  sixteen  years  and  the  penalty  for 
I'ape  is  from  one  year  to  life. 

Chicago  has  what  is  known  as  The  Morals  Court,  where 
women  are  tried  for  violations  of  the  law  regulating  moral 
conduct,  and  Mrs.  John  Francis  Yawger,  President  of  the 
New  York  City  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  and  one  of 
the  best  known,  ablest,  and  most  progressive  women  in 
this  country,  Vv'hen  asked  by  the  writer  for  an  opinion  about 
the  fitness  for  women  on  the  Bench  said: 

"I  am  glad  to  know  of  women  striving  for  the  position 
of  Judge  of  the  Domestic  Relations  or  the  Children's  Court 
of  New  York.  I  spent  a  few  weeks  in  Chicago  several  years 
ago  and  while  there  visited  the  several  courts,  amongst  them 
being  The  ivlorals  Court,  and  there  I  saw  what  a  wonderful 
amount  of  good  an  assistant  Judge  of  any  of  these  courts 
could  do,  for  the  woman  assistant  judge  of  the  Morals  Court 
is  doing  a  wonderful  work.  I  truly  hope  for  the  day  when 
we  can  see  New  York  wake  up  to  the  necessity,  for  I  do 
know  the  wonderful  amount  of  good  a  woman  as  assistant 
judge  can  do." 

The  Woman's  Protective  Association  of  Chicago,  of 
which  Miss  Nellie  Carlin,  public  guardian  of  Cook  County,  is 
president,  and  which  Miss  Carlin  and  Miss  Elizabeth  L.  Hoff- 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  83 

man  were  largely  instrumental  in  founding,  is  an  Association 
formed  as  the  result  of  the  work  of  the  Public  Defenders' 
League  for  Girls,  which  is  an  organization  of  women  lawyers 
who  have  been  giving  their  services  in  the  Municipal  Court 
in  the  cases  of  women  offenders  who  are  witliout  means  of 
obtaining  counsel.  Many  prominent  club  women  who  saw  the 
necessity  of  giving  "first  aid"  to  those  unfortunate  women 
who  are  brought  into  court  assisted  in  the  organization  and 
the  following  clubs  are  represented : 

Chicago  Law  &  Order  League, 

Chicago  Woman's  Club, 

Chicago  Woman's  Club,  Reform  Department, 

Chicago  Woman's  Aid, 

Chicago  Political  Equality  League, 

Golden  Rod  Club, 

Independent  Germ  an- American  Club, 

Illinois  Women's  Democratic  League, 

Women's  Fellowship  Club, 

Virginia  Colony  Club, 

Welfare  League, 

Englewood  Woman's  Club, 

Every  Wednesday  Club. 

The  object  of  the  Association  is  to  follow  cases  of 
women  offenders  in  Municipal  Courts  and  to  give  protection 
aid  and  friendly  counsel.  Since  its  organization  and  as  a 
result  of  its  efforts  in  the  Morals  Court,  women  first  offend- 
ers are  now  summoned  into  court  instead  of  arrested  as 
heretofore. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors.  Judge 
Harry  M.  Fisher,  who  has  been  assigned  to  the  Morals 
Court,  announced  a  plan  to  protect  first  offenders  by  keeping 
their  names  and  charges  from  the  court  records  and  hearing 
their  cases  in  chambers  in  the  presence  of  interested  parties 
only,  thereby  sparing  them  the  humiliation  of  publicity  and 
preventing  their  exploitation  by  professional  bondsmen. 

The  association  has   a  court  advisory  committee  of 


84  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

which  Mrs.  Edward  Gotchy  is  chairman,  who  attends  all 
sessions  of  the  court  and  calls  attention  of  the  organization 
to  cases  needing  assistance. 

Judge  Joseph  Z.  Uhlink,  who  presided  in  the  Morals 
Court  for  nearly  two  years,  was  much  averse  to  the  system 
of  fining  women  offenders,  believing  that  a  woman  who 
came  into  his  court  and  whose  earning  capacity  was  $5  or 
$6  was  not  a  subject  for  punishment.  He  believed  that  to 
fine  a  woman  for  immorality  and  to  send  her  out  without  any 
means  of  obtaining  employment,  to  again  become  the  prey 
of  evil  association,  was  not  the  kind  of  money  the  community 
wanted,  and  while  on  the  bench  he  refused  to  do  this. 

Chief  Justice  Olson,  speaking  from  his  long  experience,  re- 
cently said :  "If  50  per  cent,  of  the  women  engaged  in  prosti- 
tution are  feeble-minded  and  are  obeying  the  impulses  which 
they  cannot  control  and  for  which  they  are  in  no  way  respon- 
sible, then  logically  they  have  committed  no  crime  and 
should  not  receive  the  punishment  meted  out  to  criminals. 
Fines  do  not  cure  enfeebled  minds,  nor  do  jail  sentences 
improve  the  mental  capacity  of  the  hereditarily  mental 
defective." 

"The  Woman's  Protective  Association,"  said  Miss 
Carlin  "believes  that  because  of  the  above  facts  provisions 
should  be  made  by  the  city  for  a  shelter  home  or  Farm 
Colony  where  these  women  could  be  sent  for  treatment  and 
reformation.  It  is  an  absolute  necessity  for  the  protection 
of  society  and  for  the  protection  of  the  fifty  per  cent,  whose 
fifty  per  cent,  mentality  is  not  strong  enough  to  resist 
evil  influences. 

"We  believe  a  farm  colony  could  be  estabhshed  within 
the  City  Limits  where  women  ofl'enders  may  be  sent  for  an 
indeterminate  period  and  taught  useful  occupation,  as  sew- 
ing, dometsic  science,  gardening,  farming,  etc. 

"We  believe  the  work  of  the  dairy  alone  would  be  of 
great  value  to  the  community  by  providing  pure  milk  and 
other  dairy  products.     A  Municipal  Laundry  could  also  be 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  85 

maintained  which  could  serve  all  our  Municipal  Institutions. 
These  girls  and  women  should  be  paid  for  their  work  so  that 
when  they  are  released  they  would  be  better  fitted  physi- 
cally, mentally  and  financially  to  resist  temptations.  Their 
self  respect  would  be  restored,  they  would  not  have  the 
stigma  of  the  Bridewell  or  the  jail  and  would  be  able  to 
take    their   places    in    the    community    as    self-respecting 

citizens." 

The  Association  since  its  organization  has  given  assist- 
ance to  women  by  providing  counsel  and  with  a  special 
emergency  fund  in  the  Morals  Court  for  taking  care  of 
women  after  release  from  the  Bridewell  and  County  Jail, 
and  when  necesary  supplied  means  of  transportation  to 
send  girls  home.  It  has  a  legislative  committee  who  will 
make  an  effort  at  the  coming  session  of  the  legislature  to 
have  certain  legislation  enacted  which  will  enable  the  courts 
to  deal  with  these  problems  in  a  more  humane  and  effective 
manner. 


IDAHO. 


Idaho  regards  marriage  as  a  partnership  and  from  the 
time  of  the  contract  all  property  acquired  is  common 
property,  except  that  the  earnings  of  the  wife  for  her  per- 
sonal services  accrue  to  hei"  personal  estate  and  the  husband 
has  no  control  of  such  earnings.  The  husband  is  held  as  the 
head  of  the  community  and  as  such  has  the  entire  control 
and  management  of  the  community  property  but  he  has  no 
control  of  the  rents  and  revenues  emanating  from  the  sepa- 
rate estate  of  his  wife.  The  husband  cannot  sell,  mortgage 
or  otherwise  hypothecate  the  community  property  without 
the  written  consent  of  his  wife.  Upon  the  death  of  either 
the  survivor  is  entitled  to  a  settlement  of  the  community 
with  the  right  to  his  or  her  one-half  and  the  other  half 
descends  according  to  testamentary  disposition,  or,  if  the 


86  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

husband  or  wife  die  intestate,  to  the  children.  If  there  are 
no  children  then  the  whole  estate  passes  to  the  husband  or 
wife  surviving. 

Residence  of  six  months  entitles  the  citizen  to  sue  in 
the  courts  of  Idaho  for  divorce  and  among  other  causes  for 
which  divorce  will  be  granted  are  cruelty,  desertion  of  one 
year,  failure  to  provide  for  one  year,  habitual  drunkenness 
and  insanity.  The  female  is  required  to  be  eighteen  years 
of  age  to  contract  a  marriage  in  Idaho,  with  or  without 
parental  consent. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  lineal  decendants  or  ancestors  on  amounts  in 
excess  of  $10,000,  of  one  per  cent,  and  the  same  rate  applies 
to  brother  or  sisters,  their  descendants,  son-in-law,  or 
daughter-in-law,  but  to  these  latter  only  $2,000  is  exempt. 

Children  under  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  working 
in  certain  places  and  during  school  hours  or  in  places 
dangerous  physically  or  morally.  Seats  must  be  provided 
for  women  in  mercantile  establishments. 

Idaho  has  a  Mother's  Pension  Law  which  vests  the 
jurisdiction  of  destitute  children  in  the  Probate  Judge.  It 
provides  for  the  payment  of  $10  a  month  to  the  mother  of 
each  orphan  whose  father  is  dead,  confined  in  an  insane 
asylum  or  penitentiary  shown  to  be  destitute,  if  the  mother 
is  found  to  be  a  person  best  fitted  to  care  for  the  child  or 
children.  The  mother  must  be  a  resident  for  not  less  than 
two  years  of  the  county  where  she  applies. 

The  guardianship  of  children  is  deemed  due  equally 
to  father  and  mother,  as  well  as  the  earnings  of  minors. 

The  penalty  for  rape  is  imprisonment  from  five  years 
to  life. 

Idaho  has  equal  suffrage  and  Prohibition. 


INDIANA. 

In  the  State  of  Indiana  a  married  woman  holds  her  real 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  87 

and  personal  property  and  all  the  income  therefrom  derived 
as  Iier  separate  property  and  free  from  liability  for  the 
debts  of  her  husband  but  she  cannot  mortgage,  sell  or  other- 
wise hypothecate  her  real  estate  without  the  husband  joins 
in  the  conveyance.  A  married  woman  in  Indiana  may  dis- 
pose of  her  personal  property  as  she  desires  and  without  the 
consent  of  her  husband.  The  married  woman  may  conduct 
business  as  a  public  merchant  but  the  husband  cannot  be 
held  for  the  contracts  or  debts  or  liabilities  arising  there- 
from. Curtesy  and  dower  are  abolished.  As  against  cred- 
itors the  widow  takes  five  hundred  dollars  in  goods  or  money 
and  one-third  of  the  real  estate  in  fee  if  it  does  not  exceed 
ten  thousand  dollars,  one-fourth  if  it  does  not  exceed  twenty 
thousand  dollars  and  one-fifth  if  it  exceeds  that  amount. 
As  against  relatives  she  talies  five  hundred  dollars  in  goods 
or  money,  one-third  of  the  real  estate  if  tv^'o  or  more 
children  survive,  and  one-half  if  one  child  survive.  If  there 
are  no  children  but  a  parent  survive  she  takes  the  whole 
estate  if  under  one  thousand  dollars,  if  more  than  that, 
three-fourths.  If  neither  children  nor  parents  survive  she 
takes  the  v^^hole  property  after  the  debts  are  paid. 

Married  women  are  eligible  for  certain  public  offices. 

Among  other  causes  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  cruelty,  abandonment  for  two  years,  habitual  drunken- 
ness and  non-support  for  two  years.  A  female  may  contract 
marriage  with  the  consent  of  her  parents  at  sixteen  years 
and  without  parental  consent  at  eighteen  years. 

There  is  an  exemption  from  inheritance  tax  of  $10,000 
passing  to  husband,  wife,  ascendants  or  descendants  and 
one  per  cent,  on  amounts  above  that  to  $25,000,  with  gradu- 
ated scale  on  the  amounts  above. 

Minors  under  fourteen  are  forbidden  to  v/ork  in  mines, 
and  children  under  fourteen  are  forbidden  to  work  at  gainful 
occupations,  except  domestic  service  and  farm  work,  except 
that  minors  betv\^een  fourteen  and  sixteen  may  work  at  can- 
ning i>erishable  fruits  and  vegetables  between  June  and 


88  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

October.  The  eight  hour  law  is  provided  for  minors  under 
sixteen  and  night  work  is  forbidden.  Children  between 
seven  and  sixteen  must  attend  school  a  stipulated  time. 
There  are  laws  for  the  protection  of  minors  from  work  dan- 
gerous to  morals  or  life  and  limb  and  seats  must  be  provided 
wherever  women  and  girls  are  employed. 

Limited  suffrage  was  granted  women  by  the  1916-17 
legislature. 

When  the  fate  of  the  Bill  hung  in  the  balance  it  was 
Catherine  Waugh  ]\IcCulloch,  the  woman  lawyer  who  drafted 
the  Illinois  Suffrage  Bill  which  went  into  effect  in  1913,  who 
appeared  and  by  the  force  of  her  argument  swept  aside  the 
opposition.  Mrs.  ivIcCulloch,  who  travelled  the  long  route 
of  the  suffrage  bill  in  Illinois  said,  in  discussing  the  consti- 
tutionality of  the  bill,  that  it  was  practically  the  same  as 
that  passed  by  the  Illinois  legislature  and  since  twice  sus- 
tained by  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State.  The  gist  of  the 
decisions  was,  she  said,  "that  the  legislature  had  the  right 
to  create  offices,  and  that  therefore  the  legislature  had  the 
right  to  say  who  should  vote  for  those  offices,  providing  the 
designation  did  not  conflict  with  the  Constitution.  The  Con- 
stitutions of  Indiana  and  Illinois  were  very  much  alike," 
she  said,  "and  the  questions  involved  were  the  same  as  those 
involved  in  Indiana.  As  to  the  argument  that  Indiana 
women  do  not  want  to  vote,  let  me  quote  some  figures  from 
my  own  State,"  said  Mrs.  McCulloch.  "They  said  the  same 
thing  about  Illinois.  But  in  the  first  election  in  Chicago  in 
which  women  had  the  right  to  vote,  250,000  exercised  that 
right.  Last  fall,  in  the  presidential  election,  875,000  women 
voted.  The  charge  had  been  made  that  the  ignorant  woman 
will  control  the  elections.  I  have  noted  that  the  more 
ignorant  the  woman  the  less  she  wants  to  vote. 

"In  the  Chicago  elections  held  in  1916  there  was  no 
crime,  no  disorder,  no  blood  spilling  and  none  of  the  things 
which  had  characterized  other  Chicago  elections  and  made 
them  infamous.     The  election  commissioners  said  the  elec- 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  89 

tions  were  the  quietest  in  the  history  of  the  city.  In  fact, 
it  was  safer  for  the  women  to  go  to  the  polls  than  to  stay 
at  home.     Statistics  for  election  day  vdll  prove  it. 

"They  talk  of  divorce  cases  growing  out  of  elections 
Not  a  single  case  of  the  kind  is  on  record.  As  to 
the  husband  controlling  the  vote  of  the  wife,  let  me  say 
that  it  can't  be  done.  The  woman  is  alone  with  her  con- 
science when  she  votes.  And  the  husband  doesn't  find  out. 
Supperless  conditions  don't  prevail  in  Illinois  because  the 
women  have  the  right  to  vote. 

"We  vote  there  during  the  time  the  men  can't  get  to  the 
polls.  We  vote  on  the  way  to  the  grocery,  in  the  mornings 
or  just  drop  in  along  in  the  afternoon.  That  is  the  time  the 
polls  are  free  from  the  heavy  vote." 

Mrs.  McCulloch  was  one  of  the  Democratic  Presidential 
electors  from  Illinois  in  the  election  of  1916. 


IOWA. 

A  married  woman  is  the  absolute  mistress  of  all 
property  real  or  personal  which  she  owns  by  descent,  gift  or 
purchase  and  may  manage,  dispose  of  and  devise  her 
property  without  the  interference  of  her  husband.  Neither 
the  husband  nor  the  wife  is  liable  for  the  contracts  of  the 
other  made  before  or  after  marriage  and  the  wife  is  entitled 
to  sue  for  and  hold  as  her  separate  property  damages  for 
personal  injuries.  If  the  husband  abandon  the  wife  and 
have  property,  by  presentation  of  the  facts  to  the  court  an 
order  may  be  secured  to  encumber  the  property  for  the  sup- 
port and  maintenance  of  the  home  and  the  education  of  the 
children.  Each  may  constitute  the  other  an  attorney  in 
fact.  The  earnings  of  the  wife  go  to  her  separate  estate 
and  the  married  woman  may  make  contracts  the  same  as  the 
male  but  the  husband  is  not  liable  for  the  contracts  made  by 
his  wife  for  her  business  or  her  separate  benefit.     The 


90  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

legitimate  expenses  of  the  conjugal  home  are  chargeable  to 
the  wife  and  the  husband  alike  and  they  may  be  sued  jointly 
or  separately.  Dower  and  curtesy  are  abolished.  The  sur- 
viving husband  or  wife  is  entitled  to  one-third  in  value  of 
all  real  estate  owned  by  the  other  during  the  time  of  the 
marriage.  The  homestead  is  deemed  the  property  of 
husband  and  wife  equally  and  neither  can  be  made  to  leave 
it  by  the  other. 

Minors  under  fourteen  are  forbidden  to  work  in  mines 
and  factories  and  mercantile  establishments  and  in  places  of 
danger  or  in  distributing  messages. 

Minors  under  sixteen  are  forbidden  to  work  in  places 
dangerous  to  morals,  Ife  or  limb  and  provision  must  be  made 
for  females  under  twenty-one  for  seats  with  the  privilege  of 
occupancy. 

Children  between  seven  and  sixteen  must  attend  school 
a  prescribed  time. 

Women  may  not  be  employed  in  places  where  intoxi- 
cants are  sold  nor  in  positions  requiring  them  to  stand 
continuously. 

Iowa  has  had  a  Mother's  Pension  law  in  effect  since  1913 
under  which  the  district  and  superior  courts  have  jurisdic- 
tion of  delinquent  and  neglected  children.  If,  upon  investi- 
gation of  reported  cases  it  is  found  that  children  cannot  be 
properly  cared  for  and  the  mother  is  decided  to  be  a  proper 
guardian,  an  amount  not  to  exceed  two  dollars  per  week 
will  be  paid  to  the  mother  for  the  maintenance  of  the  child, 
but  this  payment  ceases  when  the  child  reaches  the  age  of 
fourteen. 

The  age  of  consent  is  fifteen  years  and  the  penalty  for 
rape  is  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  twenty-five  years. 

Iowa  is  a  prohibition  State. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  desertion  of  two  years,  drunkenness,  cruelty,  con- 
sanguinity and  insanity. 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  91 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  ascendants  or  lineal  descendants.  Others 
than  those  specified  are  entitled  to  an  exemption  of  $1,000 
and  the  tax  is  five  per  cent,  on  amounts  in  excess.  If  the 
property  passes  to  a  non-resident  of  the  State  the  tax  is 
twenty  per  cent.,  an  exception  being  made  in  favor  of 
brothers  and  sisters  on  whose  inheritance  a  tax  of  ten  per 
cent,  will  be  levied. 

Iowa  has  a  "Red  Light  and  Abatement"  law. 


KANSAS. 


In  1861,  when  Kansas  was  admitted  to  the  Union,  there 
was  written  in  her  Constitution  the  following : 

"The  legislature  shall  provide  for  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  women  in  acquiring  and  possessing  property,  real, 
personal,  or  mixed,  separate  and  apart  from  her  husband, 
and  shall  provide  for  their  equal  rights  in  the  possession  of 
their  children." 

The  article  of  the  Constitution  quoted  sounds  like  it 
would  make  Kansas  an  ideal  home  place  for  the  ambitious 
woman  citizen,  but  the  fact  is  that  the  promised  "protection" 
is  but  a  half  truth.  For  instance:  The  property  acquired 
during  marriage  is  the  community  property  of  husband  and 
wife,  but,  if  the  wife  die,  leaving  children,  the  Kansas  law 
has  provided  no  means  of  securing  to  her  offspring  her  share 
in  that  community.  In  fact  it  is  asserted  that  the  heir  at 
law  is  the  second  wife,  the  successor  to  the  woman  who  has 
been  so  inconsiderate  to  her  children  as  to  die,  for  she 
literally  steps  into  the  shoes  of  the  dead  woman  in  her  com- 
munity rights.  To  quote  Lilla  Day  Monroe,  a  woman  lawyer 
of  Topeka,  Kansas : 

"The  second  wife  is  the  absolute  heir  at  law  of  the  first 
wife,  because  the  marriage  contract  under  our  Statutes 
passes   the   inchoate   right  in   one-half  of   the   husband's 


92  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

property  to  his  wife,  and  because  of  the  fact  that,  under 
our  Statutes  there  is  no  provision  to  divide  the  property 
upon  the  death  of  the  wife,  all  of  the  common  property,  no 
matter  whence  its  source,  if  it  is  diverted  from  her  name 
and  stands  in  the  name  of  her  husband  still  remains  his  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  and  it  remains  for  him  to  say 
whether  the  children  of  the  first  wife  shall  inherit  it  or  not. 
I  have  not  yet  found  a  case  where  he  decided  in  favor  of 
the  children." 

The  property  owned  by  the  wife  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage  remains  her  own  and  is  not  liable  for  the  debts  of 
her  husband  and  she  may  contract  at  will  in  relation  to 
such  property  and  may  sue  and  be  sued  as  a  sole.  The  mar- 
ried woman  may  carry  on  a  trade  and  the  earnings  of  a 
married  woman  are  her  separate  property. 

The  Industrial  Welfare  Commission  has  made  the  fol- 
lowing protective  regulations  for  women  and  children : 

"The  State  of  Kansas  declares  that  inadequate  wages, 
long  continued  hours  and  unsanitary  conditions  of  labor 
exercise  a  pernicious  effect  upon  the  health  and  welfare  of 
women,  learners  and  apprentices  and  minors.  That  it  shall 
be  unlawful  to  employ  women,  apprentices  and  learners  and 
minors  in  any  industry  or  occupation  within  the  State  of 
Kansas  under  conditions  of  labor  detrimental  to  their  health 
or  welfare,  and  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  employ  women,  learn- 
ers and  apprentices  and  minors  in  any  industry  at  wages 
which  are  not  adequate  for  their  maintenance  and  for  more 
hours  in  any  one  day  than  is  consonant  with  their  health 
and  welfare." 

The  above  laws  went  into  effect  in  1915  and  may  be 
considered  as  the  culmination  of  the  work  launched  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  by  Mary  Elizabeth  Lease, 
the  woman  with  the  brain  of  a  stateman  and  the  courage 
of  a  Spartan,  who  went  on  the  stump  in  Kansas  and  by 
her  brilliant  oratory  wakened  and  encouraged  women  to 
take  up  the  fight  for  better  conditions. 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  93 

The  Industrial  Welfare  Commission  has  secured  the 
requirement  for  seats  in  mercantile  establishments  for 
women  employees.  Children  under  fourteen  are  not 
permitted  to  work  in  any  mine.  Nor  shall  children  under 
foui'teen  be  employed  in  connection  with  any  factory  or 
workshop  (not  owned  or  operated  by  the  parents  of  said 
children),  or  in  theatres,  or  in  elevators.  No  person  is  allowed 
to  be  employed  in  any  place  dangerous  to  life,  limb  or 
morals.  Minors  under  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  work- 
ing as  acrobats,  in  gymnasiums,  as  circus  riders  or  other 
exhibitions  of  a  dangerous  character,  or  as  beggars  or  street 
musicians.  Minors  between  eight  and  fifteen  are  required 
to  attend  school. 

The  law  provides  that  at  least  one  member  of  the  Indus- 
trial Welfare  Commission  shall  be  a  woman. 

Among  other  causes  for  divorce  in  Kansas  is  abandon- 
ment of  one  year,  habitual  drunkenness,  fraud,  cruelty, 
non-support  and  neglect  of  duty. 

A  female  of  fifteen  can  contract  a  valid  marriage  with 
parents'  consent  and  at  eighteen  without  parental  consent. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property  which  passes 
to  husband,  wife,  ascendants  or  descendants,  son-in-law  or 
daughter-in-law.  To  brothers  and  sisters  $5,000  is  exempt 
and  above  that  a  graded  rate  commencing  at  three  per  cent, 
from  $5,000  to  $25,000.  To  others  than  above  the  rate  is 
five  per  cent,  up  to  $25,000. 

The  widow  is  entitled  to  homestead  with  160  acres  of 
faiTn  land  or  one  acre  in  town  or  city,  free  from  the  debts 
of  the  husband. 

The  father  and  mother  are  equally  entitled  to  the 
guardianship  of  children. 

Kansas  has  been  an  equal  suffrage  State  since  1880  and 
is  also  a  Prohibition  State. 

Kansas  has  an  "Abatement  law,"  and  "Red  Light  Ordi- 
nance" and  all  immoral  practice  is  punishable  with  fine  and 
imprisonment. 


94  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

The  penalty  for  rape  of  a  girl  under  eighteen  is  imprison- 
ment from  five  to  twenty-one  years. 

The  penalty  of  death  is  not  inflicted  in  Kansas  by  the 
law  and  if  for  no  other  reason  this  departure  from  the 
barbai'ic  custom  of  capital  punishment  entitles  the  State 
of  Kansas  to  a  place  in  the  front  ranks  of  the  most  advanced 
and  civilized  of  the  States  of  this  country. 


KENTUCKY. 


A  married  woman  may  acquire  and  own  in  her  own 
right  immovable  property,  but  she  cannot  mortgage,  or  sell 
same  without  the  consent  of  her  husband.  The  rents,  issues 
and  revenues  of  her  real  estate  are  under  her  control  and  she 
may  sue  for  their  collection.  She  may  sell  or  otherwise 
dispose  of  her  personal  property  as  if  sole.  She  may  make 
contracts  relating  to  her  separate  property  or  her  business. 

The  surviving  spouse  is  entitled  to  a  life  interest  in  one- 
third  of  the  real  estate  and  to  one-half  of  all  personal 
property. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  Labor  Law  passed  in  1914 
minors  under  14  are  not  permitted  to  work  in  any  gainful 
employment,  and  between  14  and  16  minors  who  are 
employed  must  show  school  certificates  certifying  to  their 
attendance  at  school  for  at  least  one  hundred  days  in  the 
preceding  year  and  that  such  minors  could  read  and  write 
the  English  language.  Minors  under  sixteen  years  of  age 
are  prohibited  from  working  in  places  dangerous  to  health, 
life,  limbs  or  morals.  Minors  under  eighteen  are  prohibited 
from  cleaning  machinery  while  in  motion.  Females  under 
twenty-one  are  prohibited  from  working  where  they  are 
required  to  stand  continuously.  Nor  shall  any  female  under 
twenty-one  be  employed  for  more  than  sixty  hours  in  a 
week  or  ten  hours  in  any  day.  Seats  must  be  provided  in 
mercantile  establishments  for  the  women  employees. 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  96 

The  father  and  mother  have  equal  rights  in  the  custody 
and  guardianship  of  their  children. 

The  age  of  consent  is  sixteen  and  the  penalty  for  rape 
of  a  female  of  less  than  twelve  years  of  age  is  death. 
Kentucky,  however,  is  one  of  the  Southern  States  where  it 
is  almost  superfluous  to  state  the  rule  is  to  adjust 
the  crime  of  rape  and  the  criminal  by  the  Judge  Lynch 
method,  and  the  unwritten  law  upholds  this  court  in  saving 
the  woman  from  the  further  humiliation  of  testifying 
against  her  assailant. 

Among  other  causes  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
is  separation  for  five  years,  desertion  of  one  year,  ungovern- 
able temper,  fraud  or  duress  in  obtaining  marriage  and 
conviction  of  a  felony. 

On  amounts  not  exceeding  $25,000  the  inheritance  tax 
on  property  passing  to  husband,  wife,  ancestors  or  lineal 
descendants  is  one  per  cent,  $10,000  is  exempt  to  husband, 
wife  or  minor  child  and  $5,000  to  others  named. 

If  the  husband  abandon  the  wife  without  making  suffi- 
cient provision  for  her  support,  or  become  insane,  or  be 
imprisoned,  she  may  be  empowered  by  the  court  to  convey 
her  real  estate  without  his  authority. 

The  property  of  the  wife  is  not  responsible  for  a 
contract  after  marriage  to  answer  for  the  debts  or  default 
of  her  husband  or  another,  unless  such  contract  carry  with 
it  a  mortgage,  but  her  property  is  liable  for  her  own  debts. 
She  may  dispose  of  her  personal  property  in  her  own  name 
as  if  sole.    She  may  sue  and  stand  in  judgment. 


LOUISIANA. 


The  State  of  Louisiana  has  laws  which  are  especially 
interesting  as  they  relate  to  married  women  because  it  uses 
as  the  basic  principle  of  its  legal  direction  of  civil  affairs 


96  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

the  Code  Napoleon.  Marriage,  it  declares,  is  "a  contract 
of  partnership,"  and  it  establishes  the  community  of  acquets 
and  gains.  Because  there  is  established  the  absolute  right, 
as  the  co-partner,  of  the  surviving  husband  or  wife  to  one- 
half  of  the  community  property,  which  half  cannot  be 
devised  or  bequeathed  away  from  such  survivor ;  and  because 
the  children  of  the  marriage  are  the  "forced  heirs,"  and  as 
such  cannot  be  disinherited,  there  are  good  laws  in  Louisi- 
ana. The  trouble  is  that  the  good  is  not  far  reaching 
enough  to  satisfy  her  women  citizens  who  have  looked 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  their  own  State  and  have  seen  the 
manner  in  which  equal  civil  rights  for  women  has  been 
spelled  by  the  laws  of  other  States.  The  sentiment  per- 
vading the  Code  is  "protection"  for  women  and  minors, 
hence,  from  the  moment  of  marriage  the  husband  is  respon- 
sible for  his  wife  and  directs  and  manages  her  affairs. 
Article  2404  of  the  Code  says : 

"The  husband  is  the  head  and  master  of  the  partnership 
of  the  community  of  gains;  he  administers  its  effects,  dis- 
poses of  the  revenues  which  they  produce,  and  may  alienate 
them  by  onerous  title  without  the  permission  of  the  wife." 

Article  24  says: 

"Laws,  on  account  of  the  difference  of  sexes  have  estab- 
lished between  men  and  women  essential  differences  with 
respect  to  their  civil,  social  and  political  rights." 
Article  1782  says: 

"All  persons  have  the  capacity  to  contract  except  those 
whose  incapacity  is  especially  declared  by  law;  these  are 
persons  of  insane  mind,  those  who  are  interdicted,  minors 
and  married  women." 

Prior  to  1912  if  a  married  woman  was  deserted  by  her 
husband,  and  for  reasons  best  known  to  herself,  refrained 
from  seeking  a  separation  from  bed  and  board  or  divorce, 
all  property  acquired  by  her  during  the  abandonment  be- 
longed to  the  community  (unless  there  was  a  separation  of 
properly  evidenced  by  an  ante-nuptial  contract).     Should 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  97 

the  husband  conclude  to  return  to  the  abandoned  spouse  he 
could  lay  claim  to  all  of  the  property  acquired  during  the 
abandonment.  If  it  was  movable  property  'he^  could  sell 
it  and  give  a  good  and  valid  title  without  consulting  her, 
and  even  though  she  was  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  he  had 
re-appeared.  If  it  was  real  estate  she  w£is  unable  to  sell  it 
without  obtaining  his  consent  and  one-half  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  sale  would  have  belonged  to  him.  During  the  regular 
session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1912  Martin  H.  Manion, 
a  lawyer  and  member  from  the  Parish  of  Orleans,  introduced 
Bill  No.  321,  which  became  Act  170,  of  1912,  which  amended 
the  provision  of  Art.  2334  of  the  Civil  Code  relating  to  this 
matter  and  reading  into  that  Article  the  following: 

"The  property  of  married  persons  is  divided  into  sepa- 
rate and  common  property. 

Separate  property  is  that  which  either  party  brings  into 
the  marriage,  or  acquired  during  the  marriage  with  separate 
funds,  or  by  inheritance  or  donation  made  to  him  or  her 
particularly. 

The  earnings  of  the  wife  when  living  apart  from  her 
husband,  although  not  separated  by  judgment  of  court,  her 
earnings  when  carrying  on  a  business,  trade,  occupation  or 
industry  separate  from  her  husband,  actions  for  damages 
resulting  from  offenses  and  quasi-offenses,  and  the  property 
purchased  with  all  the  funds  thus  derived,  are  her  separate 
property. 

Common  property  is  that  which  is  acquired  by  the  hus- 
band and  wife  during  marriage  in  any  manner  different 
from  that  above  declared.  But  when  the  title  to  community 
property  stands  in  the  name  of  the  wife  it  cannot  be  mort- 
gaged or  sold  by  the  husband  without  her  written  authority 
or  consent." 

But  a  married  woman  cannot  mortgage  her  property 
without  the  consent  not  only  of  her  husband  but  of  the 
courts  of  her  domicile.  The  court  places  her  under  oath 
and  enquires  the  use  she  intends  devoting  the  money  and 


98  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

if  it  develops  she  purposes  to  lend  it  to  her  husband  to  pay 
his  separate  debts,  or  to  assist  him  in  his  business,  the  court 
refuses  authority.  It  must  appear  that  the  married  woman 
intends  to  use  the  money  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  her 
separate  and  paraphernal  property.  This  law,  it  has  been 
frequently  contended  by  lawyers,  provokes  perjury.  Mr. 
Manion  introduced  a  Bill  in  the  General  Assembly  which 
would  have  changed  this  law  but  it  was  voted  down.  On  the 
subject  Mr.  Manion  says: 

"I  wanted  to  amend  the  law  to  dispense  with  the 
authority  of  the  court.  It  appears  to  me  a  disgrace  to  the 
womanhood  of  this  State,  that,  no  matter  how  intelligent, 
and  notwithstanding  that  she  may  have  acquired  the  prop- 
erty owned  by  her,  if  married,  prior  to  her  marriage, 
through  her  individual  effort,  it  is  necessary  she  should 
petition  the  court  and  state  under  oath  that  the  money  is 
for  her  individual  use  and  administration,  and  then,  with 
hand  raised  to  God,  tell  the  court  that  the  money  is  for 
her  separate  use  and  not  for  that  of  her  husband.  The 
thought  is  repulsive  to  me.  It  is  difficult  for  me  to  believe 
that  such  a  law  could  have  remained  upon  our  Statute  books, 
making  a  woman  of  my  race,  no  matter  how  intelligent, 
because  of  her  marriage,  unable  to  do  with  her  own  property, 
acquired  by  her  through  use  of  her  talents,  what  the  most 
ignorant  negro  man  is  freely  admitted  to  do." 

The  amendment  secured  by  Mr.  Manion  whereby  the 
earnings  of  the  wife  and  the  funds  from  any  business  she 
might  conduct  or  from  damages  went  to  the  separate  estate 
and  not  to  the  community  was  a  long  stride  toward  fair 
consideration  and  in  July,  1916,  the  following  Act  made  the 
separate  property  of  the  married  woman  free  from  the  obli- 
gation to  secure  the  consent  of  the  husband  for  its  sale  or 
administration.     It  reads : 

"That  a  married  woman  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  shall 
be  competent  to  contract  and  bind  and  obligate  herself  per- 
sonally  and   with   reference  to   her   separate   paraphernal 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  99 

property,  and  to  appear  in  court  and  sue  and  be  sued  to 
the  same  extent  and  in  the  same  manner  as  though  she 
were  femme  sole;  provided  that  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  be  deemed  or  construed  to  affect  in  any  way  the  Statute 
of  this  State  establishing  and  regulating  the  matrimonial 
community  of  acquets  and  gains  and  prescribing  what  shall 
be  deemed  the  separate  property  of  the  spouses." 

The  surviving  wife  or  husband  has  the  use  or  usufruct 
of  the  community  property  for  life,  and  if  either  dies 
intestate,  and  there  are  no  children,  nor  father  nor  mother, 
he,  or  she,  takes  all  of  the  community  property.  The 
parents  are  "forced"  heirs,  the  same  as  children  and  cannot 
be  disinherited.  Likewise  the  parents  are  entitled  to  sup- 
port from  their  children  and  the  law  has  been  invoked  on 
many  occasions  in  the  Louisiana  courts  to  force  children  to 
make  provision  for  parents  who  were  without  support. 

Louisiana  permits  women  taxpayers  to  vote  on  certain 
matters  relative  to  civic  improvements  which  affect  their 
property  interests. 

The  City  of  New  Orleans,  which  is  the  entire  Parish  of 
Orleans,  handles  the  "Red  Light"  problem  by  a  City  Ordi- 
nance known  as  "The  Story  Ordinance,"  which  establishes 
within  certain  defined  boundaries,  comprising  a  certain 
number  of  blocks,  what  is  known  as  "Storeyville,"  where 
vice  stalks  unrebuked.  Not  only  unrebuked,  but  licensed  and 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Health  from  which 
the  women  must  secure  health  certificates.  Having  set 
apart  a  certain  defined  section  of  the  city  for  disreputable 
houses  (which  range  from  long  rows  of  squalid  one-room 
shacks  on  which  the  rent  is  collected  daily,  to  mansions 
which  are  palatial  in  structure  and  equipment).  New  Orleans 
is  most  jealous  of  the  rest  of  her  domicile.  It  is  clean 
from  Parish  line  to  Parish  line  save  for  that  one  dark  spot 
from  which  the  community  turns  its  face,  in  daylight,  and 
knov/s  but  surreptitiously.  Shady  rooming  houses,  hotels 
v/ith  lax  rules  and  immoral  institutions  disguised  under  the 


100  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

names  of  Massaeur  parlors,  or  clubs,  are  not  tolerated;  the 
line  of  'demarkation  is  clean  cut.  The  decent  householder 
is  not  suspicious  of  his  neighbor,  nor  is  he  fearful  for  his 
wife  or  daughter  for  he  knows  the  never  faltering,  splendid 
police  surveillance  which  protects  the  city  from  rubbing 
elbows  with  promiscuous  vice.  Still,  it  is  an  open  question 
whether  this  garnering  of  a  city's  vice  within  certain  boun- 
daries, there  to  regulate  and  curb  and  health  certificate,  is 
a  thing  of  which  a  city  may  be  proud  or  if  the  flaunting 
unashamed  of  the  dregs  of  conscienceless  immorality  is  an 
advertising  which  disgraces  civilization.  If  all  the  thieves 
in  a  community  could  be  coralled  within  certain  limitations 
their  activities  could  be  curtailed  and  repressed,  but  it  is 
quite  generally  conceded  that  a  better  method  is  to  prohibit 
stealing — it  seems  all  a  question  of  whether  or  not  certain 
vice  can  be  eliminated,  and  if  it  cannot  be  then  it  is  assured- 
ly better  to  brand  and  tag  and  rope  it  in. 

The  age  of  consent  is  eighteen  years  and  the  penalty 
for  violation  of  a  female  of  less  than  twelve  years  is  death. 
Wtihin  the  past  twenty  years  two  white  men  have  paid  the 
extreme  penalty  and  been  hanged  for  this  crime  in  the  City 
of  New  Orleans. 

The  preference  in  guardianship  of  children  goes  to  the 
father,  and  where  both  parents  are  deceased,  to  the  paternal 
grandfather.  Under  this  law  there  have  been  some  tragic 
scenes  in  the  Louisiana  courtrooms.  Cases  of  individual 
hardship  have  been  many.  An  instance  was  that  of  a 
maternal  grandmother  who  had  the  custody  of  a  grandson 
from  his  birth,  coincident  with  the  death  of  her  daughter. 
Two  years  later  the  child's  father  died.  There  never  was 
any  claim  that  the  child  lacked  care,  attention  or  education, 
but  when  he  was  ten  years  of  age  the  paternal  grandfather 
who  lived  in  Chicago  and  had  never  seen  the  child,  brought 
suit  in  the  courts  of  New  Orleans  for  the  custody  of  his 
grandson.  The  real  facts  were  that  his  daughter,  an  aunt 
of  the  boy,  was  childless  and  desired  to  rear  a  child  and 


LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  101 

preferred  the  son  of  her  brother  to  a  stranger  and  she  used 
the  legal  right  of  the  grandfather  to  accomplish  her  wish. 
The  gandfather  was  old.  The  court,  however,  could  take 
no  cognizance  of  the  facts  beyond  those  relating  to  proof 
of  paternity.  The  custody  of  the  child  was  ordered  given 
the  distant  grandfather  and  his  daughter  forced  the 
maternal  grandmother  who  had  taken  the  child  into  her 
arms  when  he  was  bora,  to  bow  to  the  edict  of  the  court 
and  surrender  the  guardianship  and  custody.  The  child  was 
immediately  removed  from  the  State  and  taken  to  the 
distant  home  of  the  paternal  grandfather  and  aunt.  The 
grandmother  in  New  Orleans  became  a  pathetic  figure,  her 
mentality  rapidly  weakening  under  the  great  grief  of  her 
loss,  and  she  wandered  about  lawyers'  offices  seeking  if  there 
was  not  some  way  to  get  back  her  "baby." 

Louisiana,  because  of  her  large  negro  population,  has 
a  record  of  the  highest  rate  of  illiteracy  in  the  United  States, 
but  in  1914  there  went  into  effect  a  compulsory  education 
law  and  this  will  bring  relief.  With  a  population  in  New 
Orleans  alone  of  89,262  negroes  out  of  a  total  population  of 
339,075,  the  impression  gained  from  the  mere  recordation 
of  the  rate  of  illiteracy  in  Louisiana  is  most  erroneous.  It 
is  a  notorious  fact  that  Louisiana's  huge  negro  population, 
or  so  much  of  it  as  comes  under  the  head  of  "minors,"  needs 
the  heavy  hand  of  the  law  to  enforce  education. 

Louisiana  has  long  had  a  woman  factory  inspector. 
Miss  Jean  Gordon,  of  New  Orleans,  to  whose  efforts  was  due 
the  passage  of  the  Bill  giving  factory  inspection,  and  much 
relief  incidental,  was  named  as  the  Inspector  when  the  law 
went  into  effect  and  was  one  of  the  first  women  in  this 
country  to  hold  a  position  of  like  character. 

Minors  under  foui'teen  are  forbidden  to  work  at  gainful 
occupation.  Exception,  however,  is  made  to  agricultural 
employment.  Minors  under  eighteen  and  women  are  for- 
bidden to  work  more  than  ten  hours  in  each  day,  exception 
being  made  to  employees  in  stores  on  Saturday  nights  and 


102  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN 

for  a  period  of  twenty  days  before  Christmas.  Girls  of 
less  than  eighteen  and  boys  less  than  sixteen  are  forbidden 
to  work  at  night  except  in  stores  on  Saturday  nights  and 
for  twenty  days  before  Christmas. 

Seats  must  be  provided  for  women  in  mercantile  estab- 
lishments. 

Men  are  forbidden  to  live  upon  the  earnings  of  their 
wives  or  minor  children  and  if  convicted  of  this  offense  are 
sentenced  as  vagrants. 

In  cities,  outside  New  Orleans,  with  a  population  of 
more  than  25,000,  children  between  eight  and  fourteen  must 
attend  school  continuously  for  at  least  four  months  of  each 
year,  provided  there  are  separate  schools  for  the  races  open 
to  such  minors  for  so  long  a  period,  otherwise  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  send  such  minors  to  school  during  the  public 
school  term.  In  the  Parish  of  Orleans  minors  betw'een  eight 
and  foui'teen,  and  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  unless 
employed,  must  attend  school  through  the  school  term. 

Not  only  is  the  consent  of  the  husband  necessary  to 
give  effect  to  the  contracts  of  the  wife  but  the  married 
woman  cannot  sue  without  the  husband  joining  and  author- 
izing the  suit.  Le  regime  de  la  communaute.  The  husband 
as  head  of  the  community  exercises  supreme  authority. 
Once  the  nuptial  partnership  is  formed  the  husband  controls 
generally  the  movable  and  immovable  property,  the  fruits, 
income  and  revenues  thereof,  whether  it  is  in  possession 
or  action.  The  property  acquired  during  the  nuptial  part- 
nership, which  is  the  common  property,  is  liable  for  the 
■rlebts  of  t'ne  parties  existing  at  the  time  of  the  marriage, 
tlie  debts  contracted  by  the  husband  during  the  community, 
or  by  tlie  wife  with  the  consent  of  her  husband.  Testamen- 
tary disposition  of  husband  or  wife  cannot  exceed  the  dis- 
posable portion  permitted  by  law.  The  property  belongs 
equally  to  the  surviving  spouse  and  to  the  forced  heirs  of 
the  deceased,  in  equal  moieties,  after  the  payment  of  all 
debts  chargeable  to  the  estate. 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  103 

Where  persons  married  in  States  which  do  not  have 
the  law  of  community  remove  to  Louisiana,  their  property 
acquired  while  they  reside  in  the  State  is  subject  to  the  rule 
of  Louisiana  nuptial  partnership.  Marriage  being  a  con- 
tract sui  generis,  the  obligations  which  arise  out  of  it  must 
be  regulated  by  the  public  laws  of  the  State  where  the 
parties  ai'e  domiciled. 

Divorce  will  be  granted  in  Louisiana  for  adultery, 
attempt  on  the  life  of  one  spouse  by  the  other,  and  for 
conviction  of  a  felony.  For  desertion,  non-support,  cruelty 
and  other  causes  a  separation  will  be  granted  which  can 
be  made  an  absolute  divorce  if,  after  twelve  months  frorh 
the  decree,  there  has  been  no  reconciliation.  If  personal 
service  cannot  be  had  on  the  defendant  the  court  appoints 
an  attorney  to  represent  the  absentee. 


MAINE. 

A  married  woman  has  the  sole  control  of  her  separate 
property  in  Maine,  such  separate  property  consisting  of 
whatever  she  possessed  before  marriage  or  she  became  pos- 
sessed of  after  marriage,  unless  purchased  with  her 
husband's  money  or  coming  from  him  so  as  to  defend  his 
creditors.  She  cannot  convey  property  which  she  acquired 
through  her  husband  or  his  relations  unless  he  joins  in  the 
conveyance.  She  may  engage  in  trade  as  a  public  merchant 
and  her  property  is  liable  for  her  contracts  and  the  property 
of  her  husband  is  not  liable  for  such  contracts  unless  he 
profited  thereby  or  joined  in  the  obligation.  The  survivor 
is  entitled  to  one-third  of  the  real  estate,  except  wild  lands, 
if  there  are  children,  and  if  there  is  no  issue,  then  to  one- 
half. 

Minors  under  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in 
mills,  factories,  and  mechanical  establishments,  nor  at  any 
gainful  occupation  during  school  hours.  Minors  under  six- 


104  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN 

teen  being  so  employed  must  produce  a  school  certificate 
showing  he  can  read  and  write  simple  English  sentences. 
Minors  under  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in  places 
dangerous  to  life,  limb,  health  or  morals. 

Seats  must  be  provided  for  women  employed  in  mercan- 
tile establishments,  hotels,  restaurants,  etc. 

The  guardianship  of  children  is  equally  due  the  mother 
and  father. 

The  age  of  consent  is  sixteen  and  the  penalty  for  rape 
of  a  girl  of  less  than  fourteen  is  imprisonment  within  the 
discretion  of  the  court,  over  fourteen  and  less  than  sixteen 
imprisonment  for  not  more  than  two  years  or  a  fine  of  not 
less  than  $500. 

Maine  provides  that,  upon  the  presentation  of  twenty 
legal  voters  any  building  used  for  immoral  purposes  the 
courts  shall  have  the  power  to  close.  Such  use  of  a  build- 
ing is  described  as  a  nuisance  and  the  only  regulation  pre- 
scribed is  its  abatement. 

Divorce  will  be  granted  for  cruelty,  desertion  of  three 
years,  habitual  drunkenness  and  non-support. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  ancestor,  descendant,  son-in-law,  and  daugh- 
ter-in-law of  one  per  cent,  on  amounts  up  to  $50,000  and 
$10,000  is  exempt  to  husband,  wife  and  minor  child 


MARYLAND. 


The  real  and  personal  property  of  a  married  woman  in 
Maryland,  whether  acquired  before  marriage  or  after,  is  her 
separate  property  and  is  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  her  hus- 
band. Conveyances  from  husband  to  wife,  however,  in  an 
effort  to  defraud  creditors,  will  not  be  held  valid.  The 
personal  earnings  of  the  wife  and  the  income  therefrom 
are  and  remain  her  separate  property  under  her  sole  control. 
She  may  engage  in  business  as  a  public  merchant,  form 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  105 

partnerships,  make  contracts,  sue  and  be  sued  like  a  single 
woman.  If  she  is  more  than  eighteen  she  may  sell,  mort- 
gage, or  otherwise  hypothecate  her  property  without  the 
consent  of  her  husband,  if  less  than  eighteen,  however,  the 
husband  must  join.  She  may  insure  her  husband's  life  for 
her  benefit  and  receive  the  benefit  free  from  any  claim  by 
legal  representatives  or  creditors. 

If  husband  or  wife  die  without  will  and  there  are 
neither  ascendants  or  descendants,  the  surviving  spouse 
takes  all  of  the  estate,  and  if  there  are  such  surviving  rela- 
tives the  wife  or  husband  is  entitled  to  one-third  of  the 
personal  property  and  estate  for  life  in  one-third  of  all  lands. 

Minors  less  than  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  service  as 
telegraph  messengers  and  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  to 
work  at  same  after  8  p.m.  and  before  8  a.m.,  and  they  are 
forbidden  to  call  for  or  deliver  messages  to  houses  of  ques- 
tionable character.  In  cities  of  more  than  20,000  persons 
under  eighteen  are  prohibited  from  working  as  messengers 
or  distributing  goods  between  10  p.m.  and  6  a.m.  Children 
under  fourteen  are  forbidden  to  work  in  mills,  factories, 
workshops,  mechanical  establishments,  tenement  house  fac- 
tories, offices,  restauraunts,  bakeries,  barber  shops,  hotels, 
apartment  houses,  bookblack  stands,  stables,  garages,  laun- 
dries, drivers,  brick  and  lumber  yards,  in  the  contruction  or 
repair  of  buildings,  and  children  under  twelve  years  of  age 
are  prohibited  from  working  in  canneries,  packing  establish- 
ments, offices  boarding  houses,  places  of  amusement  or  in 
the  sale  or  distribution  of  merchandise.  Minors  under  four- 
teen who  work  must  have  school  certificates  and  they  cannot 
work  during  school  sessions.  Under  sixteen  there  are  lavv^s 
prohibiting  work  in  places  dangerous  to  life,  limb  or  morals. 
Minors  under  twenty-one  cannot  work  in  saloons.  Between 
eight  and  fourteen  children  must  attend  school  not  less  than 
four  months  in  each  year. 

Females  are  prohibited  from  working  more  than  ten 
hours  a  day  or  sixty  hours  in  a  week  in  manufacturing. 


106  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

mechanical,  mercantile,  printing,  baking  or  laundering  estab- 
lishments. Or  more  than  eight  hours  at  night  work,  and 
exception  is  made  to  this  rule  if  the  females  are  employed 
in  canning  perishable  fruit  or  vegetables. 

Minors  of  less  than  sixteen  ai'e  prohibited  from  work- 
ing more  than  ten  hours  a  day  in  any  factory  or  in  mer- 
cantile establishments  in  Baltimore.  Nor  can  minors  if 
less  than  sixteen  be  employed  where  intoxicating  liquors  are 
sold,  bottled  or  in  any  way  handled. 

Seats  must  be  provided  for  women  who  work  in  mercan- 
tile establishments. 

By  the  Mother's  Pension  Act  passed  by  Maryland  in 
1916,  the  relief  granted  is  in  the  discretion  and  subject  to 
the  investigaiton  of  the  County  Commissioners,  except  in 
Baltimore  where  there  is  a  Mother's  Relief  Board,  with  rep- 
resentation by  women.  Where  the  mother  of  indigent 
children  is  found  to  be  a  proper  person  relief  will  be  allowed 
to  the  extent  of  twelve  dollars  a  month  for  one  child,  or,  if 
there  are  more  than  one  for  whom  application  is  made  by 
the  mother,  then  ten  dollai's  a  month  will  be  allowed,  the 
entire  allowance  not  to  exceed  forty  dollars  a  month,  and  the 
mother  must  have  resided  in  the  County  for  at  least  three 
years. 

The  custody  and  guardianship  of  children  is  given  pref- 
erence to  the  father  in  Maryland  but  the  mother  has  the 
same  right  as  the  father  to  appoint  a  guardian  by  will  or 
testament. 

The  age  of  consent  is  fourteen  and  the  penalty  for  rape 
is  death  or  life  imprisonment. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  abandonment  for  three  yeai's  and  unchastity  of  the  wife 
before  marriage. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to  hus- 
band, wife,  or  lineal  descendants. 


!  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  107 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  married  woman  retains  control  of  all  real  and  per- 
sonal property  owned  by  her  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  and 
this  separate  property  she  may  sell,  mortgage  or  hypothe- 
cate, except  the  statutory  rights  of  the  husband  in  such 
property  cannot  be  disregarded  unless  he  signs  the  deeds 
with  his  wife  when  property  is  sold.  The  earnings  of  the 
married  woman  go  to  her  separate  estate.  Husband  and 
wife  are  not  allowed  to  convey  propeity  to  each  other,  except 
that  the  wife  may  acquire  by  gift  from  her  husband  as  her 
separate  property  articles  of  personal  use  and  adornment  to 
a  value  of  not  more  than  two  thousand  dollars,  provided  such 
gift  is  not  in  fraud  of  creditors.  The  married  woman  in 
Massachusetts  may  sue  and  be  sued  as  a  sole.  If  a  married 
woman  carries  on  a  business  as  a  public  merchant  she  must 
file  in  the  clerk's  office  of  the  town  or  city  in  which  the  busi- 
ness is  to  be  carried  on,  a  certificate  setting  forth  her  name 
and  that  of  her  husband,  the  place  and  nature  of  the  busi- 
ness. Without  such  recorded  certificate  the  property  of  the 
married  woman  involved  in  her  business  may  be  attached 
for  the  debts  of  her  husband  and  the  husband  will  be  liable 
with  the  wife  for  contracts  made  in  the  conduct  of  the  busi- 
ness, hence,  if  the  wife  does  not  record  the  required  certifi- 
cate of  declaration  of  her  separate  business  the  husband 
may  do  so  for  her. 

The  rights  of  the  surviving  husband  and  wife  are  prac- 
tically the  same.  The  widow  is  entitled  to  dower  as  at 
common  law  and  the  husband  is  entitled  to  curtesy  of  the 
income  of  one-third  of  the  wife's  real  estate  for  life  whether 
there  be  issue  or  not.  Dower  or  curtesy  must  be  claimed 
within  one  year  and  if  so  claimed  is  given  preference  over 
all  other  creditors. 

Because  Massachusetts  has  more  than  eighteen  thous- 
and females  of  more  than  sixteen  years  and  more  than 
twenty  thousand  children  of  less  than  sixteen  years  of  age 
at  work  in  her  mills,  factories  and  other  manufacturing 


108  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN 

establishments  there  has  been  a  multitude  of  laws  passed 
in  the  effort  to  protect  them. 

Minors  of  less  than  eighteen  are  not  allowed  to  work 
where  liquor  is  sold  or  handled  in  any  way. 

There  is  a  nine  hour  day  law  for  women  and  minors 
of  less  than  eighteen,  and  they  are  prohibited  from  working 
between  10  p.m.  and  6  a.m.  in  any  manufacturing  plant. 
Minors  of  less  than  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  wage  earn- 
ing labor  and  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  they  must  pro- 
duce school  certificates  if  they  be  permitted  to  work  during 
school  days  of  the  school  sessions  except  on  Saturday  when 
they  may  be  employed. 

Seats  and  hours  for  meals  for  women  are  compulsory, 
and  no  woman  is  permitted  to  work  for  two  weeks  before 
or  four  weeks  after  child-birth. 

Women  and  minors  under  eighteen  are  prohibited  from 
working  in  places  dangerous  to  life,  limb  or  morals. 

Children  between  seven  and  sixteen  must  attend  school 
during  the  regular  school  sessions. 

By  an  Act  passed  in  1912  there  was  created  a  Minimum 
Wage  Commission  which  provides  that  one  member  shall  be 
a  woman  and  this  Commission  regulates  wages  of  women 
and  minors. 

Since  1913  Massachusetts  has  had  a  Mother's  Pension 
law  which  gives  the  jurisdiction  of  applicants  for  its  benefits 
to  the  Overseer  of  the  Poor  of  each  County.  After  investi- 
gation of  the  mother  if  found  to  be  a  person  best  fitted  to 
care  for  her  children  the  State  will  allow  a  sufficient  amount 
of  money  monthly  to  enable  the  woman  to  rear  and  educate 
her  child  or  children.  The  woman  must  have  resided  in  the 
State  for  not  less  than  three  years  and  the  pension  is  not 
granted  until  after  every  effort  has  been  exhausted  to  force 
relatives  and  members  of  the  family  to  make  the  necessary 
provision. 


LAWS   AFFECTING  WOMEN  109 

The  separate  estate  of  a  woman  is  liable  for  necessaries 
supplied  herself  and  family  to  the  amount  of  two  thousand 
dollars. 

The  guardianship  of  children  is  deemed  jointly  due  the 
father  and  mother,  or  to  the  surviving  parent. 

The  age  of  consent  is  sixteen  and  the  maximum  penalty 
for  rape  is  imprisonment  for  life. 

Massachusetts  has  a  Red  Light  and  Abatement  Law. 


MICHIGAN. 


The  married  woman  in  the  State  of  Michigan  holds  as 
her  separate  estate  all  real  and  personal  property  of  which 
she  was  possessed  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  and  she  can 
sell  or  mortgage  it  as  if  a  femme  sole  and  bequeath  it  by 
will.  She  may  make  contracts  with  regard  to  her  separate 
property  or  her  separate  business  but  she  cannot  bind  her 
separate  estate  by  becoming  surety  for  her  husband  or  a 
third  person.  Her  personal  earnings  go  to  her  separate 
estate  to  do  with  as  she  pleases. 

Michigan  requires  that  a  woman  shall  have  attained  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years  before  she  can  make  a  valid  busi- 
ness contract  of  any  kind  but  she  is  permitted  to  enter  the 
contract  of  marriage  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be 
granted  are  desertion  for  two  years,  habitual  drunkenness, 
cruelty  and  non-support. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  of  one  per  cent, 
passing  to  husband,  wife,  ascendants  and  lineal  descendants 
on  amounts  above  two  thousand  dollars,  except  to  the  widow 
who  is  allowed  an  exemption  of  five  thousand  dollars.  To 
others  the  tax  is  five  per  cent,  and  the  exemption  one  hun- 
dred dollars. 

Since  1916  Michigan  has  had  prohibition. 

If  the  husband  die  intestate  the  widow  is  allowed  per- 
sonal property  not  to  exceed  two  hundred  dollars,  and  the 


110  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN 

remainder  of  the  personal  estate  is  divided  between  the 
widow  in  the  proportion  of  one-third  and  two-thirds  to  chil- 
dren if  there  are  more  than  one,  or  one-half  to  the  widow 
and  one-half  to  the  child  if  but  one  child  survive.  The 
widow  is  entitled  to  one-third  of  the  real  estate  if  there  are 
children,  one-half  if  there  are  no  children,  and  all  if  there  are 
neither  children  or  close  kin.  The  husband  cannot  divest 
the  wife  by  will  to  her  right  to  use  of  the  homestead  and 
one-third  of  all  lands  for  life,  and  the  husband  has  a  life 
estate  in  all  lands  owned  by  the  wife  at  the  time  of  her 
death  provided  there  are  no  children  by  a  previous  marriage. 

There  is  a  nine  hour  labor  day  law  for  women  and 
minors  of  less  than  eighteen  years  except  that  the  law  does 
not  apply  to  those  who  work  in  canneries  for  the  preserving 
of  perishable  fruits  and  vegetables. 

Work  for  women  and  minors  is  prohibited  between  10 
p.m.  and  6  a.m.,  and  minors  of  less  than  twenty-one  are 
prohibited  from  working  in  places  dangerous  to  life,  limb 
or  morals. 

There  must  be  seats  furnished  for  female  employees  in 
mercantile  establishments  and  factories. 

Women  are  prohibited  from  selling  liquor  or  to  work  in 
places  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold. 

Michigan  has  the  very  excellent  provision  of  a  Truant 
Officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  investigate  the  reason  for  the 
non-attendance  of  any  child  during  the  school  session.  If 
it  is  found  the  child  does  not  attend  school  because  the 
family  is  unable  to  provide  the  child  with  necessary  support, 
upon  the  report  of  the  Truant  Officer  the  School  Board  will 
pay  to  the  family  of  the  child  not  less  than  three  dollars, 
nor  more  than  six  dollars  per  week  for  the  children  of  any 
one  family.  Investigation  of  the  schools  of  every  large  city 
discloses  the  fact  that  there  are  many  children  who  are  so 
poorly  nourished  as  to  be  unfit  for  study — m  some  cases 
the  home  poverty  being  such  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of 
the  child  attending  school.    The  condition  has  been  bettered 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  111 

by  the  noonday  lunch  furnished  by  certain  schools  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  record  that  in  New  York  schools  children  came  to 
the  sessions  with  brothers  and  sisters  below  the  school  age 
and  declared  they  sought  for  them  the  bowl  of  soup  provided 
at  school  which  was  impossible  in  their  homes  at  midday. 

Michigan  is  unique  in  its  Mother's  Pension  Law  in 
that  it  provides  a  pension  not  only  for  the  children  of  wedded 
parents  but  for  illegitimate  offspring,  and  furnishes  aid  to 
the  indigent  mother  until  the  child  reaches  the  age  of  seven- 
teen years.  Since  1913  widows,  women  deserted  by  their 
husbands,  or  divorced,  or  who  are  too  poor  to  properly  pro- 
vide for  their  children  but  who  are  fit  guardians  are  pen- 
sioned to  the  extent  of  not  more  than  three  dollars  per  week 
for  each  child.  Judge's  of  probate  and  circuit  courts  have 
jurisdiction  of  such  cases. 

The  guardianship  of  children  is  given  preferably  to  the 
father  and,  in  his  decease,  to  the  mother. 

There  is  a  graduated  punishment  for  rape,  dependent 
upon  the  age  of  the  girl ;  under  ten  years  the  punishment  is 
life  imprisonment,  between  ten  and  fourteen  years  the  pen- 
alty is  imprisonment  from  seven  to  thirty  years  and  between 
fourteen  and  eighteen  years  the  maximum  penalty  is  seven 
years  in  the  penitentiary,  or,  a  minimum  penalty  of  one  year 
in  the  county  jail. 

Michigan  has  been  one  of  the  prohibition  States  since 
1916. 

There  is  a  Red  Light  and  Abatement  Lav/  in  effect  since 
1915. 

The  Legislature  of  Michigan  appoints  a  special  commis- 
sion to  investigate  the  wages  paid  to  women  and  it  is 
required  of  employers  that  a  living  wage  be  provided. 


MINNESOTA. 


The  property  owned  by  a  woman  at  her  marriage  or 
subsequently  acquired  by  her  remains  her  separate  estate. 


112  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

is  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  her  husband  and  is  entirely 
under  her  own  control,  but  such  property  as  well  as  the 
property  of  the  husband  is  liable  for  the  necessaries  fur- 
nished the  family  whether  contracted  for  by  the  husband  or 
the  wife.  She  may  contract  and  be  contracted  with  as  if  a 
sole  but  she  is  not  permitted  to  convey  her  homestead  with- 
out her  husband  join  in  the  deed. 

The  surviving  husband  or  wife  is  entitled  to  the  use 
of  the  homestead  for  life,  and  in  fee  if  there  are  no  children. 

The  married  woman  must  be  authorized  by  her  husband 
to  sue  and  stand  in  judgment. 

The  whole  of  the  real  and  personal  property  goes  to  the 
surviving  spouse  if  there  is  no  will,  and  one-third  goes  by 
right  to  the  survivor. 

Minnesota  does  not  permit  children  under  fourteen  to 
be  employed  in  dangerous  occupations  nor  during  school  ses- 
sions, and  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  minors  may  work 
at  gainful  occupations  if  provided  with  school  certificates 
but  not  for  more  than  forty-eight  hours  in  a  week  or  more 
than  eight  hours  a  day  or  between  7  p.m.  and  7  a.m. 

Minors  male  and  female  are  prohibited  from  working 
or  going  into  places  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold. 

There  is  an  Industrial  Commission  which  fixes  the 
minimum  wage  for  women  and  children. 

There  must  be  seats  provided  for  women  who  work  in 
mercantile  establishments,  factories,  hotels,  restaurants  and 
other  places  of  business.  They  are  not  permitted  to  work 
more  than  ten  hours  a  day  in  such  places  nor  more  than  nine 
hours  a  day  in  telegraph  or  telephone  offices  and  women  are 
prohibited  from  working  as  oilers  or  cleaners  of  moving 
machinery. 

Minors  under  eighteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in 
places  dangerous  to  limbs  or  morals  or  between  6  p.m.  and 
7  a.m. 

There  is  a  special  provision  in  the  laws  of  Minnesota 
for  the  punishment  of  any  person  who  shall  cruelly  or  un- 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  113 

lawfully  punish  a  child  under  sixteen  years  of  age  and  on 
convicition  the  offender  is  punished  for  a  misdemeanor. 

The  father  and  mother  are  deemed  equally  entitled  to 
and  responsible  for  the  guardianship,  care  and  custody  of 
their  children,  and  upon  the  death  of  either,  the  survivor 
succeeds  to  the  duty. 

Minnesota,  like  Michigan,  punishes  rape  as  follows: 
under  ten  years,  with  imprisonment  for  life,  ten  to  fourteen 
years,  imprisonment  for  seven  to  thirty  years  and  fourteen 
to  eighteen  years  with  a  maximum  of  seven  years  in  the 
penitentiary  and  a  minimum  of  one  year  in  the  county  jail. 

With  parents  consent  a  girl  of  fifteen  may  contract  a 
valid  marriage  and  at  eighteen  without  parental  consent. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be  gra*ited 
are  desertion  of  one  year,  habitual  drunkenness  of  one  year, 
cruelty  and  conviction  of  a  felony. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to  wife 
or  lineal  descendants  on  amounts  of  less  than  $15,000  of  one 
per  cent.,  to  husband,  parents,  ancestors  adopted  children  or 
issue  thereof,  one  and  one-half  per  cent.,  to  brother,  sister 
or  their  descendants,  son-in-law  or  daughter-in-law,  three 
per  cent.,  to  uncles,  aunts  or  their  descendants,  four  per 
cent.,  and  to  others  more  remote,  five  per  cent. 


MISSISSIPPI. 


Section  2517,  of  the  Code  of  1906  totally  abrogates  the 
Common  law  disabilities  of  coverture  and  reads  : 

"Every  woman  now  married  or  hereafter  to  be  married, 
shall  have  the  same  capacity  to  acquire,  hold,  manage,  con- 
trol, use,  enjoy  and  dispose  of  all  property,  real  and  personal, 
in  possession  or  expectancy,  and  to  make  any  contract  in 
reference  to  it,  and  to  bind  herself  personally,  and  to  sue 
and  be  sued  with  all  the  right  and  liabilities  incident  thereto, 
as  if  she  were  not  married." 

And  the  principles  above  enunciated  have  been  sustain- 


114  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN 

ed  in  the  case  of  Verner  vs.  Verner,  62  Miss.  p.  260,  which 
held  further  that  "this  section  does  not  deprive  a  woman  of 
her  right  to  alimony." 

Dower  and  curtesy  are  abolished  by  Sec.  2519,  of  the 
Code  of  1906  and  the  wife  takes  a  child's  part  of  the  hus- 
band's real  estate  and  personal  property  where  the  husband 
dies  intestate ;  if  there  are  no  children  the  survivor  takes  tlie 
whole  estate. 

The  Homestead  exemptions  under  the  Code  of  1906  are : 

"Every  citizen  of  this  State,  male  or  female,  being  a 
householder,  and  having  a  family,  shall  be  entitled  to  hold 
exempt  from  seizure  or  sale  under  execution  or  attachment, 
the  land  and  buildings  owned  and  occupied  as  a  residence  by 
him  or  her,  but  the  quantity  of  land  shall  not  exceed  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  nor  the  value  thereof,  inclusive 
of  improvements,  save  as  hereinafter  provided,  the  sum 
of  three  thousand  dollars." 

The  foregoing  is  tlie  exemption  of  country  homestead's 
and  the  following  is  the  exemption  in  cities,  towns  and  vil- 
lages: "There  shall  be  exempt  from  seizure  or  sale  under 
execution  or  attachment  land  and  buildings  owned  and  occu- 
pied as  a  residence  by  such  person  not  to  exceed  in  value 
3,000,  and  personal  property  to  be  selected  by  him  not  to 
exceed  in  value  $250.00,  or  articles  specified  as  exempt  to 
the  head  of  the  family." 

The  family  statute  is  intended  by  "householder"  to 
mean  "one  residing  on  the  property,  or  if  removed,  there- 
from by  necessity  must  show  intention  to  return  within  a 
reasonable  time"  declares  Miss  Sara  Buchanan,  a  young 
v/oman  lawyer  of  Booneville,  Miss.,  who  has  risen  rapidly 
in  the  ranks  of  the  legal  profession  in  Mississippi.  "The 
head  of  the  family"  she  says  has  been  held  to  mean  "A  hus- 
band or  widow  supporting  a  minor  child  or  children,"  and 
Miss  Buchanan  adds  the  following  further  information  rela- 
tive to  the  laws  of  her  State : 

The  Acts  of  1916,  in  Chapter  225,  provide  that  if  the 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  115 

widow  or  widower  of  over  sixty  years  have  been  exemption- 
ists  under  the  above  statute  they  shall  not  be  deprived  of 
such  exemption  because  of  not  having  a  family  or  occupying 
the  homestead,  which  amends  Sec.  2146  and  2147  of  the  Code 
of  1906  quoted. 

"The  wife  must  join  in  the  conveyance  of  the  homstead 
if  the  husband  sells  and  if  the  wife  is  the  grantor  then  the 
husband  must  join.  However,  the  requirement  that  the 
husband  join  in  property  conveyance  applies  only  to  the 
homestead. 

"Section  2520  of  the  Code  of  1906  declares  the  liability 
of  the  husband  to  his  wife  for  all  property  taken  over  and 
used  by  him  together  with  the  income  and  profits  therefrom 
for  one  year  after  receipt  of  same. 

"Chapter  61  of  the  Code  of  1906  deals  fully  and  ade- 
quately with  the  matter  of  Guardians  and  Wards,  therein 
testamentary  guardians  are  defined  and  their  qualifications 
provided  for.  Sec.  2403  provides  for  the  appointment  of 
guardians  by  the  Chancery  Court  where  parents  have  not 
made  appointment.  Preference  is  given  to  the  natural  guar- 
dian in  all  cases,  or  the  next  of  kin,  unless  the  applicant 
be  manifestly  unsuitable  for  the  discharge  of  the  duties. 
A  minor  over  the  age  of  fourteen  years  may  select  his  or  her 
own  guardian  by  petition  to  the  court.  If  a  guardian  other 
than  the  natural  guardian  is  selected  by  the  minor,  and  the 
court  deems  the  natural  guardian  more  suitable  in  that  par- 
ticular case,  he  has  the  power  to  appoint  the  natural 
guardian." 

Mississippi  intends  to  be  especially  solicitous  regard- 
ing the  interests  of  minors  and  the  statutes  are  very  rigid 
regarding  guardianships  and  the  performance  of  the  duties 
attached  thereto  as  shown  by  the  1906  Code  from  Sec.  2404 
to  24444  inclusive. 

A  valid  marriage  may  be  contracted  by  a  girl  of 
eighteen  years,  but  under  that  age  the  female  must  have 
her  parent  or  guardian  give  consent  personally  before  the 


116  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN 

clerk  of  the  circuit  court  of  the  county  who  issues  the 
license. 

Sec.  1673  of  the  Code  of  1906  annuls  the  paramount 
right  of  the  father  to  the  custody  of  the  children  in  divorce 
proceedings.  The  award  of  the  custody  of  the  children  is 
now  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  court,  governed  by  the 
existing  circumstances. 

Acts  of  1916,  Chap.  227,  amends  Sees.  3582  to  2586, 
inclusive  of  the  Annotated  Code  of  1906,  providing  for 
apprenticeships  of  pauper  children,  the  new  law  authorizing 
the  board  of  supervivors  to  place  pauper  children  in  the  care 
of  an  orphan  asylum  or  organization  for  the  care  of  home- 
less and  dependent  children,  whereas  they  were  foraierly 
consigned  to  the  county  poor  house.  Now  children  of  seven 
years  or  over  are  not  allowed  to  be  retained  in  the  poor 
home,  if  the  child  is  in  good  health.  They  may  be  appren- 
ticed under  discretion  of  the  Board,  and  such  apprenticeships 
may  be  revoked  at  said  Board's  discretion,  upon  hearing. 

Sec.  5055  (k),  and  same  section  (m),  provide  respec- 
tively for  classing  as  vagrants:  "Every  person  who  shall 
abandon  his  wife  or  family,  without  just  cause,  leaving  her 
or  them  without  support,  or  in  danger  of  becoming  a  public 
charge,"  and  "All  persons  who  are  able  to  work  and  do 
not  work,  but  hire  out  their  minor  children  or  allow  them 
to  be  hired  out,  and  live  upon  their  wages  are  vagrants." 
Punishment  for  vagrancy,  upon  conviction  is  "not  less  than 
ten  nor  more  than  thirty  days"  imprisonment,  unless  bond 
be  given,  with  sufficient  security,  in  the  sum  of  not  less  than 
$201.00,  for  the  future  industry  and  good  conduct  of  such 
person  for  one  year  from  date  of  such  bond. 

Common  prostitutes,  and  keepers  of  houses  of  prostitu- 
tion, are  also  classified  under  this  head. 

There  is  no  tax  on  inheritance. 

The  Acts  of  the  Legislature  of  1914  fixe  the  "age  of 
consent"  at  eighteen  years.  This  amends  the  former  law, 
Sec.  1358,  Code  1906,  applies  also  to  the  amended  Acts  1908, 


LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  117 

Ch.  171.  The  fine  for  rape  under  this  Act  is  $500  maximum, 
or  imprisonment  for  not  longer  than  six  months,  or  both,  or 
by  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary  not  exceeding  five 
years.  "Age  of  consent"  here  used,  of  course,  means  the 
lowest  age  limit  at  which  a  female,  unmarried,  may  be  said 
to  consent  to  her  own  ruin.  This  was  formerly  14  years. 
Under  the  age  of  twelve,  punishment  is  death. 

No  boy  under  12  years  nor  girl  under  14  years  may  be 
employed  in  or  permitted  to  work  in  any  cotton  or  knitting 
mill  in  the  State. 

No  boy  under  14  nor  girl  under  16  may  be  employed  or 
permitted  to  work  in  any  cotton  or  knitting  mill  over  8  hours 
per  day  or  48  hours  per  week. 

No  person,  firm,  corporation,  etc.,  is  permitted  to  work 
any  female  in  laundry,  millinery,  dressmaking  store,  oilice 
mercantile  establishment,  theatre,  telegraph  or  telephone, 
or  any  other  occupation  not  here  enumerate,  more  than  10 
hours  per  day,  or  60  hours  per  week,  except  in  case  of 
emergency  or  public  necessity. 

There  is  no  wage  limit  for  women. 
Chapter  100,  of  the  Legislature  of  1916,  provides  for 
the  creation  of  a  commission  for  the  removal  of  adult  illit- 
eracy in  Mississippi,  know  as  "The  Mississippi  Illiteracy 
Commission,"  composed  of  five  persons,  both  men  and 
women,  including  the  State  Supt.  of  Education. 

There  is  provision  for  the  establishment  and  mainten- 
ance of  a  State  school  for  delinquent  children,  (which  term 
includes  "Any  child  less  than  18  years  of  age,  residing  or 
being  at  the  time  in  the  State  of  Mississippi  (a)  Who 
violates  any  municipal  ordinances  or  State  laws,  etc.  (b) 
who  is  destitute  or  homeless,  or  abandoned,  or  is  in  such  an 
evil  and  immoral  environment  that  such  child  is  likely  to 
develop  criminal  practices,  etc."  Government  of  this  in- 
stitution to  be  vested  in  a  board  of  five  trustees,  appointed 
by  the  Governor  with  advice  of  Senate,  on  which  "Women 


118  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

shall  be  eligible  to  appointment  as  trustees,  and  to  any  other 
positions  connected  with  this  institution." 

The  Old  Ladies'  Home  established  by  the  State  of  Mis- 
sissippi and  maintained  by  State  funds,  for  homeless,  or 
helpless  old  ladies,  without  people  or  means  sufficient  to  care 
for  themselves,  makes  provision  in  the  right  way  for  those 
who  should  not  be  permitted  to  want  for  a  home  or  care. 
This  institution  is  not  a  "Poor  House,"  but  is  what  its 
name  implies,  an  "Old  Ladies'  Home." 

The  State  Librarian  is  thus  provided  for  by  the  State 
Constitution  of  1890:  Sec.  106:  "There  shall  be  a  State 
librarian,  to  be  chosen  by  the  Legislature,  on  joint  vote  of 
the  two  houses,  to  serve  four  years,  whose  duties  and  com- 
pensation shall  be  prescribed  by  law.  Any  woman,  a  resi- 
dent of  the  State  four  years,  and  who  has  attained  the  age 
of  twenty  years,  shall  be  eligible  to  said  office." 

This  is  the  only  office,  elective,  to  which  a  woman  is  at 
present  eligible  in  Mississippi.  They  may  be  appointed 
notaries  public ;  and  the  professions  are  open  to  them,  con- 
struing the  masculine  terms  to  include  feminine,  as  pro- 
vided by  Sec.  1605  Code  1906,  which  says  "Words  in  the 
masculine  gender  shall  embrace  a  female  as  well  as  a  male, 
unless  a  contrary  intention  may  be  manifested." 

President  Woodrow  Wilson  set  up  what  was  know  as 
"The  Summer  White  House"  on  that  lovely  stretch  of  pine 
bordered  coast  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  Pass  Christian 
and  the  seclusion  he  sought  at  that  time  and  \\hich  was  so 
perfectly  granted  by  the  people  of  the  State  notwithstand- 
ing their  deep  interest  in  so  noted  a  sojourner,  is  indicative 
of  the  Mississippian's  innate  regard  for  the  rights  of 
others.  All  through  the  laws  of  Mississippi  runs  the  senti- 
ment of  perfect  protection  for  the  individual  citizen,  the 
maintenance  of  the  homestead  as  the  castle  reserved  to 
every  man,  and  the  security  of  the  greatest  degree  of  per- 
sonal liberty  consistent  with  good  order  and  good  morals. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  Mississippi  will  grant 


LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  119 

divorce  are  desertion  of  two  years,  consanguinity,  cruelty 
and  insanity  at  the  time  of  the  marriage. 
Mississippi  is  a  Prohibition  State. 


MISSOURI. 


All  real  and  personal  property  posessed  by  the  married 
woman  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  or  acquired  by  her  by 
purchase  or  devise,  together  with  the  rents,  revenues  and 
issues  of  same  remains  the  separate  property  of  the  wife, 
and  her  earnings  or  the  proceeds  from  any  business  con- 
ducted by  herself  goes  to  her  separate  property  which  is 
entirely  free  from  the  control  of  her  husband.  She  may 
contract  and  be  contracted  with,  sue  and  stand  in  judgment. 
This  extensive  recognition  of  the  rights  of  married  women 
is  an  evolution  from  the  first  Married  Woman's  Act  of  1875 
which  gave  to  the  woman  as  her  separate  property;  and 
under  her  sole  control,  the  personal  property,  including 
rights  in  action,  belonging  to  her  at  marriage,  or  which 
might  have  come  to  her  by  gifts  during  coverture  or  by  be- 
quests or  inheritance,  or  by  purchase  with  her  separate 
means,  or  from  her  separate  labor  or  growing  out  of  any 
violation  of  her  personal  rights,  together  with  all  income, 
increase  and  profit  thereof.  The  amendment  to  the  forego- 
ing in  1883  gave  her  the  right  to  sue  in  her  own  name  for 
her  personal  property  and  rights  in  action.  Sec.  6869  of 
Rv.  Stat,  of  1889  extended  her  separate  control  and  owner- 
ship to  her  real  estate  and  made  her  property  subject  to 
debts  contracted  by  her  before  and  during  marriage.  Sec. 
6864  of  Rv.  Stat,  of  1889  provides  that  a  married  woman 
shall  be  a  femme  sole  so  far  as  to  enable  her  to  carry  on 
and  to  transact  business  on  her  own  account,  to  contract  and 
be  contracted  with,  to  sue  and  be  sued  in  law  and  equity 
with  or  without  her  husband  being  joined  as  a  party. '  Miss 
Ethel  Kynaston,  a   vv^ell  knoA\Ti  member  of  the  ^Missouri  bar, 


120  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN 

says,  "The  provision  of  Sec.  6864  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of 
1889  has  brought  about  an  interesting  situation  as  regards 
real  estate  held  by  married  women  in  their  own  right.  If  a 
woman  was  married  before  1889,  and  the  property  was 
acquired  by  her  in  her  own  right  before  that  date,  the 
husband  alone  has  the  right  to  sue  for  any  injury  to  it,  or 
for  the  rents  and  profits,  because  the  right  of  possession  of 
such  property  and  the  right  to  the  rents  and  profits  thereof 
is  vested  in  him.  Vanta  vs.  Johnson,  170  Mo.  p.  269.  The 
right  to  rents  and  profits  and  the  possession  of  land  acquired 
after  1889  by  a  maried  woman  in  her  own  right  is  in  her, 
so  that  as  to  lands  then  acquired,  she  is  the  proper  party 
to  bring  suit.  Vanata  vs.  Johnson,  170,  Mo.  p.  269,  250  Mo., 
p.  286. 

Though  the  Married  Woman's  Acts  enabled  a  married 
woman  to  sue,  the  courts  held  that  so  far  as  the  Statute  of 
Limitations  concern  her  right  to  sue,  she  is  still  under  dis- 
ability. That  is,  that  these  Statutes  do  not  begin  to  run 
against  her  rights  of  action  until  after  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band, or  the  severance  of  the  marriage  relation.  Lindell 
Real  Estate  Co.  vs.  Lindell,  142  Mo.,  p.  61.  The  same 
peculiar  situation  prevails  as  regards  the  right  of  a  married 
woman  to  act  as  administratrix.  A  statute  expressly  pro- 
hibits her  from  acting  as  such.  Since  the  passage  of  the 
Married  Woman's  Acts  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  for  the 
existence  of  such  a  law.  There  has  been  recent  legislation 
regarding  the  parents'  custody  of  children,  which  changes 
the  Common  Law  right  of  the  husband  to  the  custody  and 
earnings  of  the  child.  Laws  of  1913,  p.  91,  entitled  "An  Act 
to  give  married  women  equal  rights  with  their  husbands  as 
to  the  custody  and  control  of  the  persons  of  their  minor 
children,  their  wages  and  earnings  and  the  management  of 
their  estate,  making  the  wife  liable  for  the  support  of  her 
children  to  the  extent  of  their  earnings,  qualifying  a  married 
woman  to  act  as  guardian  or  curator  of  a  minor  child,  etc." 
One  phase  of  this  Statute  was  passed  on  in  the  case  of  Mere- 


LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  121 

dith  VS.  Krauthoff,  177  Southwestern  Reporter,  p.  1112. 
There  the  question  of  a  minor  child  arose  and  the  court  said 
that  "Aside  from  giving  the  mother,  as  a  married  woman, 
the  right  to  act  as  guardian  of  her  child,  and  removing  tie 
common  law  preference  for  the  father  in  the  matter  of  its 
custody,  thereby  putting  the  parents  on  an  equality  in  that 
respect,  it  is  not  seen  that  the  statute  makes  any  change  in 
the  existing  law."  It  would  seem  that  the  court  Vv'-as 
speaking  merely  from  the  standpoint  of  custody — meaning 
that  the  child's  welfare  remains  the  important  question, 
just  as  it  was  at  common  law,  and  that  that  question  is  still 
left  to  the  court  to  decide.  As  the  statute  gives  the  father 
and  mother  a  joint  right  to  the  custody  and  earnings,  it 
follows  that  the  father  and  mother  both  be  required  to  join 
in  suing  for  loss  of  the  services  of  a  minor  child,  and  in  all 
similar  actions.  This  question  has  not  yet  arisen  in  the 
courts,  but  doubtless  will,  as  will  many  others  as  a  result 
of  this  statute. 

The  frequent  legislation  enlarging  women's  rights,  the 
tendency  of  the  courts  to  construe  the  common  law,  consti- 
tution and  statute  law  as  not  disqualifying  women  unless 
they  expressly  do  so,  give  great  hope  that  in  the  near  future 
women  in  Missouri  will  be  fully  emancipated." 

The  age  of  consent  in  Missouri  is  eighteen  years,  and 
between  fifteen  and  eighteen  years  the  penalty  for  rape  of  a 
girl  is  five  years  imprisonment,  or  fine,  or  both  and  for  rape 
of  a  girl  of  less  than  fifteen  the  penalty  is.  imprisonment  in 
the  penitentiary  for  five  years. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  habitual  drunkenness  for  one  year,  abandonment  for 
one  year,  vagrancy  and  indignities. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  all  property  passing  to 
others  than  husband,  wife,  parents,  adopted  child  or  lineal 
descendants  of  five  per  cent. 

The  surviving  husband  and  wife  have  like  consideration 
as  to  inheritance.     The  widow  is  entitled  to  life  interest  in 


122  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

one-third  of  all  lands  owned  by  her  husband,  if  there  is  n^ 
will  she  is  entitled  to  a  child's  share  in  the  personal  property, 
if  there  be  issue  and  if  there  are  no  children  she  is  entitled 
to  dower  and  one-half  of  the  personal  property  of  the  hus- 
band after  the  debts  are  paid. 

Minors  of  less  than  fourteen  are  forbidden  to  work 
at  gainful  occupation  except  domestic  or  agricultural  service. 

Minors  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  may  work  by 
securing  a  school  certificate  but  for  not  more  than  48  hours 
in  a  week  or  eight  hours  a  day. 

Minors  of  less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working 
in  places  dangerous  to  life,  limb  or  morals,  and  women  are 
prohibited  from  working  where  intoxicating  liquor  is  sold. 

It  is  expressly  forbidden  women  to  work  for  more  than 
nine  hours  a  day  in  manufacturing,  mechanical,  or  mercan- 
tile establishments  or  factory  workshops,  laundries,  baker- 
ies, restaurants,  places  of  amusement,  as  clerks,  stenogra- 
phers, in  express  companies,  public  institutions,  etc.  As  the 
labor  day  for  men  is  regulated  at  eight  hours  per  day  it  is 
to  be  assumed  that  women  in  Missouri,  given  an  hour  a  day 
longer  for  work,  are  not  deemed  the  weaker  sex. 

Missouri  has  a  Mother's  Pension  Law  which  gives  juris- 
dicition  of  applicants  to  the  Juvenile  Courts.  St.  Paul  has 
a  specific  ordinance  under  which  mother's  are  pensioned 
which  allows  the  payment  of  $3.50  per  week  for  the  main- 
tenance of  each  child  in  the  care  of  a  proven  worthy  mother. 
The  State  law  provides  for  the  partial  support  of  widows, 
wives  of  prisoners  and  those  confined  in  insane  asylums  who 
are  the  mothers  of  children  of  less  than  fourteen  and  who 
are  in  indigent  circumstances. 


MONTANA. 


All  property  which  belonged  to  the  wife  at  the  time  of 
her  marriage  or  which  she  acquired  by  inheritance,  purchase 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  123 

or  with  her  funds  after  marriage  remains  her  separate 
estate  and  is  not  under  the  control  of  her  husband,  nor  is  it 
liable  for  his  debts. 

The  husband  is  deemed  the  head  of  the  community  and 
he  is  recognized  as  having  the  right  to  establish  domicile 
and  to  make  all  necessary  contracts  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  family  for  whose  support  he  is  liable,  however,  if  the 
husband  has  not  sufficient  funds  for  the  proper  care  of  the 
family  and  the  wife  has  a  separate  estate  she  is  liable  for 
so  much  of  the  maintenance  as  the  husband  is  unable  to 
meet.  Beyond  contracts  for  the  maintenance  the  husband 
and  v/ife  are  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  each  other. 

The  husband  is  entitled  to  an  inheritance  of  two-thirds 
of  his  wife's  estate  which  cannot  be  divested  by  her  will  and 
she  is  entitled  to  one-third  of  the  lands  owned  by  her  hus- 
band. 

The  surviving  husband  or  wife  of  an  intestate  spouse 
is  entitled  to  one-half  of  the  estate  if  there  is  one  child,  one- 
third  if  there  is  more  than  one-child.  If  there  be  no  issue 
then  the  estate  goes  one-half  to  the  surviving  spouse  and  the 
other-half  goes  to  father,  mother  or  their  descendants.  If 
there  does  not  survive  parents  or  descendants  the  whole 
estate  goes  to  the  surviving  spouse. 

The  custody  of  children  is  deemed  due  equally  to  the 
father  and  mother  or  the  surviving  parent. 

In  1916,  by  referendum,  Montana  adopted  constitutional 
prohibition. 

The  age  of  consent  is  eighteen  years  and  the  penalty  for 
rape  is  imprisonment  from  two  to  ninety-nine  years. 

Among  the  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  Habitual  drunkenness  for  one  year,  abandonment  for 
one  year,  non-support,  and  Montana  forbids  the  innocent 
party  to  re-marry  v^^ithin  two  years  after  the  decree  of 
divorce  and  the  guilty  party  is  prohibited  from  marrying 
within  three  years. 


124  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to  hus- 
band, wife,  father,  mother,  child,  brother,  sister,  son-in-law 
and  daughter-in-law  of  one  per  cent,  with  an  exemption  of 
$7,500. 

A  girl  of  sixteen  can  contract  a  valid  marriage  but  she 
cannot  make  any  other  valid  contract  beneath  the  age  of 
eighteen  years. 

Montana  has  a  Mother's  Pension  Law  which  is  wide  in 
its  scope  and  generous  in  its  provisions.  An  allowance  will 
be  made  of  ten  dollars  a  month  for  one  child,  seven  dollars 
and  a  half  additional  for  the  second  child  and  two  dollars  and 
a  half  for  each  additional  child  of  any  mother  who  is  a 
widow  or  whose  father  is  an  inmate  of  an  institution  of  cor- 
rection or  charity  or  who  is  physically  or  mentally  unfit  to 
provide  for  his  family. 

Montana  will  probably  always  be  most  notable  to 
women  for  having  sent  Miss  Rankin,  as  the  first  woman 
entitled  to  sit  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 


NEBRASKA. 

All  the  property,  real  and  personal,  of  a  married  woman 
owned  by  her  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  or  acquired 
subsequently,  except  by  donation  from  her  husband,  and  all 
the  rents  and  profits  thereof,  are  her  separate  property  and 
not  under  the  control  of  her  husband.  She  may  contract 
with  reference  to  her  separate  estate  and  convey  it  in  sale. 
She  may  sue  and  stand  in  judgment  and  may  carry  on  her 
separate  business  and  her  earnings  go  to  her  separate  estate. 
She  is  not  liable  for  her  husband's  debts.  The  husband 
cannot  divest  title  to  the  homestead  unless  he  is  joined  in 
the  conveyance  by  his  wife,  nor  can  he  mortgage  or  other- 
wise hypothecate  the  homestead  unless  his  wife  gives  her 
written  consent  and  joins. 

Dower  and  curtesy  are  abolished. 

The  surviving  husband  or  wife  is  entitled  to  the  per- 
sonal property  to  a  value  of  two  hundred  dollars,  but  if 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  125 

there  is  no  children  or  close  kin  the  survivor  is  entitled  to 
the  whole  estate.  If  there  is  one  child  the  surviving  spouse 
is  entitled  to  one-half  of  all  real  estate  and  if  there  are  more 
than  one  child,  to  one-third. 

Marriage  emancipates  the  married  woman  of  sixteen 
for  the  administration  of  her  property,  but  the  unmarried 
woman  does  not  attain  her  majority  and  the  right  to  control 
her  property  until  she  has  attained  eighteen  years. 

The  father  and  mother  are  deemed  equally  entitled  to 
the  guardianship  of  children. 

Nebraska  has  a  Red  Light  and  Abatement  Law. 

The  penalty  for  rape  of  a  girl  of  less  than  fifteen  years 
is  imprisonment  from  three  to  twenty  years. 

Among  the  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  habitual  drunkenness  for  two  years,  abandonment  for 
two  years,  imprisonment  for  three  years  and  cruelty. 


NEVADA. 

All  property  of  the  wife,  real  and  personal  owned  by  her 
at  marriage  or  acquired  by  gift,  devise,  bequest  or  descent 
remains  her  separate  property  and  the  property  of  the 
husband  receives  the  same  consideration.  All  property  ac- 
quired by  either  husband  or  wife  after  marriage  other  than 
above  is  common  property.  The  wife  man  manage  and  con- 
very  her  separate  property  without  the  consent  of  her  hls- 
band.  The  husband  is  deemed  the  head  of  the  community 
and  hence  all  the  property  which  is  common  property  is 
under  his  control  and  he  may  dispose  of  it  the  same  as  of 
his  separate  property,  except  that  he  may  not  dispose  of 
the  homestead  by  mortgage  or  sale  except  the  wife  join.  At 
the  death  of  either  spouse  the  survivor  takes  all  of  the  com- 
mon property.  Dower  and  curtesy  are  abolished.  If  the 
husband  is  unable  to  support  himself  and  it  is  shown  that  his 
v/ife  has  a  separate  estate,  she  is  required  to  give  him  sup- 
port.   Married  w^omen  may  transact  business  as  public  mer- 


126  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

chants  and  the  earnings  of  the  wife  belong  to  her 
exckisively.  The  husband  is  liable  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  home  and  children  unless  it  is  shown  that  the  wife  is  a 
public  merchant  and  then  she  is  equally  liable  for  the 
support. 

If  a  husband  or  wife  die  intestate  then  the  separate 
property  goes  one-third  to  the  surviving  spouse  and  the 
remainder  to  the  children;  if  there  is  but  one  child  then 
one-half  goes  to  the  survivor  and  if  there  are  no  children 
or  parents,  or  descendants  of  parents,  then  the  whole  of  the 
separate  property  goes  to  the  surviving  wife  or  husband. 
The  common  property  is  considered  as  belonging  one-half  to 
each,  hence  the  survivor  takes  the  half  of  the  deceased 
unless  there  are  children  when  they  share  v/ith  the  surviv- 
ing parent.  If  the  estate  is  less  than  $500  the  vvliole  goes  to 
the  surviving  spouse  and  children  without  administration. 

Women  become  of  age  at  eighteen  years  in  Nevada 
though  she  may  contract  marriage,  with  the  consent  of  her 
parents,  at  sixteen  years. 

The  penalty  for  I'ape  is  imprisonment  for  from  five 
years  to  life  and  the  age  of  consent  is  sixteen. 

There  are  few  women  and  children  employed  in  manu- 
facturing plants  in  the  State  of  Nevada  but  the  following 
laws  have  been  enacted  for  the  protction  of  those  who  do 
thus  labor : 

Boys  less  than  eighteen  and  girls  less  than  sixteen  are 
prohibited  from  working  at  any  gainful  occupation  except 
farm  work  and  in  domestic  service  for  more  than  forty-eight 
hours  a  week,  or  eight  hours  a  day,  and  minors  of  less 
than  eighteen  are  prohibited  from  working  as  messengers 
or  in  the  delivery  of  goods  and  merchandise  between  ten  at 
night  and  five  in  the  morning. 

Children  between  eight  and  sixteen  must  attend  school 
during  the  school  sessions.  Minors,  boys  and  girls,  aie 
forbidden  to  work  in  saloons  or  where  intoxicating  liquors 
are  handled,  and  they  are  prohibited  from  working  as  beg- 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  127 

gars,  in  immoral  places  or  at  employment  dangerous  to  life 
or  limb. 

Nevada  has  always  made  certain  provisions  for  indig- 
ent children  but  by  an  amendment  passed  in  1915  the  State 
provides  a  Mother's  Pension  and  the  distribution  of  funds 
and  investigation  of  cases  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
County  Commissioners.  The  law  provides  for  the  support 
of  women  whose  husband's  are  dead,  or  are  inmates  of  a 
penal  institution  or  in  insane  asylum,  or  who  are  abandoned 
by  their  husband's  and  such  abandonment  has  continued  for 
more  than  a  year,  or  because  of  the  total  disability  of  their 
husbands,  and  who  are  unable  to  support  their  children.  The 
allowance  is  made  of  fifteen  dollars  per  month  for  one  child 
of  less  than  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  if  there  are  more  chil- 
dren then  a  further  allowance  of  five  dollars  for  each  will 
be  granted. 

A  residence  of  six  months  enables  a  man  or  woman  to 
sue  for  divorce  in  the  courts  of  Nevada  but  the  fact  that  the 
State  is  very  liberal  in  its  relief  has  caused  it  to  become 
the  Mecca  for  those  who  would  be  unwed  and  who  do  not 
find  in  the  State  of  their  domicile  an  easy  way  to  divorce. 
Hence  Nevada  now  requires  that  the  six  montlis  residence 
be  bona  fide,  there  can  no  longer  be  a  constructive  residence 
obtained  by  the  renting  of  a  room  and  an  office  with  a  sign 
declaring  the  quasi-resident  an  agent  of  something  or  other 
which  requires  merely  an  occasional  look  in  on  the  supposed 
business.  If  the  applicant  leaves  the  State  during  the  six 
months  a  good  and  valid  reason  for  so  doing  must  be  fur- 
nished the  court.  The  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be 
allowed  are  cruelty,  non-support,  habitual  drunkenness, 
abandonment  for  one  year  and  convicition  of  a  felony.  The 
decree  of  divorce  is  immediately  effective. 

When  the  death  penalty  is  imposed  in  Nevada  the  con- 
demned is  permitted  the  choice  of  hanging  or  shooting  to 
fulfil  the  order  of  execution. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 


128  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

husband  or  wife,  ascendants  or  descendants  of  one  per  cent, 
with  an  exemption  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  the  widow 
or  minor  child,  and  an  exemption  of  half  that  amount  to  the 
others  named.  To  biother,  sister,  nephew,  niece  or  their 
descendants  there  is  a  tax  of  two  per  cent,  with  an  ex- 
emption of  ten  thousand  dollars.  To  uncles,  aunts  or  their 
descendants  the  tax  is  three  per  cent,  and  the  exemp^on 
five  thousand  dollars. 

Nevada  has  equal  suffrage  but  neither  prohibition 
nor  local  option,  nor  any  form  of  the  Red  Light  and  Abate- 
ment Law  for  the  restriction  of  vice. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 


The  mairied  woman  in  New  Hampshire  may  hold, 
acquire  and  convey  her  real  estate.  Property  owned  by 
her  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  remains  her  own  and 
is  in  no  way  subject  to  the  control  of  her  husband,  nor  is 
any  property  subsequently  acquired  by  her,  nor  the  pro- 
ceeds from  her  earnings.  She  may  make  contracts  in  her 
own  name,  make  notes,  buy  goods,  and  transact  any  busi- 
ness whatever  the  same  as  if  sole  though  she  cannot 
contract  directly  with  her  husband,  become  surety  for  him 
nor  is  she  liable  on  any  undertaking  in  his  behalf.  In 
case  of  desertion,  or  when  the  husband  is  a  spendthrift, 
insane  or  under  guardianship,  the  wife  has  all  the  rights 
of  a  femme  sole. 

The  surviving  husband  or  wife  and  minor  children  are 
entitled  to  use  of  the  homestead  for  life,  such  homestead 
not  to  exceed  the  value  of  $500. 

There  is  dower  and  curtesy  as  at  common  law.  If  the 
widow  elects  to  release  her  dower .  she  may  take  in  lieu 
thereof  one-third  of  all  of  her  husband's  estate  if  he  leaves 
children  and  if  there  are  no  children,  then  $5,000  and  one- 
half   of   the    remainder.    The   husband   may   release   his 


LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  129 

curtesy  and  take  the  same  provision  allowed  the  widow 
in  lieu  of  dower. 

Children  under  fourteen  years  of  age  are  prohibited 
from  working  in  mills  and  factories,  mercantile  estab- 
lishments and  gainful  occupations  generally  and  children 
under  sixteen  who  work  must  have  school  certificates. 
Minors  less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in 
any  place  dangerous  to  morals,  life  or  limbs. 

Women  are  prohibited  from  working  more  than  nine 
hours  a  day  or  fifty-four  hours  a  week  and  seats  must  be 
provided  for  female  employees.  Children  between  seven 
and  fifteen  must  attend  school. 

New  Hampshire  has  a  Mother's  Pension  Law  which 
vests  jurisdiction  of  the  cases  of  indigent  widows  and 
children  in  the  Department  of  Education.  After  investiga- 
tion if  a  mother  is  found  a  woman  of  good  morals  and  in 
every  way  best  fitted  for  the  care  of  her  children,  but  unable 
to  earn  enough  to  give  the  proper  maintenance  to  her 
offspring,  she  will  be  allowed  ten  dollars  a  month  for  one 
child  and  five  dollars  a  month  apiece  for  other  children, 
the  pension  ceasing  for  each  child  as  it  attains  sixteen 
years. 

The  guardianship  of  children  is  deemed  jointly  due  by 
mother  and  father,  and  upon  the  death  of  either,  to  the 
survivor. 

With  the  consent  of  parents  a  girl  of  twelve  years 
may  contract  marriage  but  she  must  have  attained  twenty- 
one  years  before  she  can  make  any  other  valid  contract. 

Divorce  will  be  granted  for  cruelty,  non-support  for 
three  years,  habitual  drunkenness  for  three  years,  if  the 
husband  absents  himself  from  the  United  States  for  three 
years  with  the  intent  to  become  a  citizen  of  another  coun- 
try or  if  the  wife  remains  without  the  State  for  ten 
years  without  communicating  with  her  husband,  or  for 
marriage  with  a  person  of  a  sect  which  deems  marriage 
unlawful. 


130  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

The  penalty  for  rape  is  imprisonment  for  not  more 
than  thirty  years. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing-  to 
husband,  wife,  parents,  lineal  descendants,  daughter-in-law 
or  son-in-law,  and  to  all  others  there  is  a  tax  of  five  per  cent. 


NEW  JERSEY. 


Property  owned  by  a  woman  at  the  time  of  her  mar- 
riage or  afterward  acquired  by  gift,  grant,  descent,  devise, 
or  bequest,  and  the  income  derived  therefrom  is  her  sepa- 
rate property  and  in  no  way  subject  to  the  control  or 
disposal  of  her  husband,  or  liable  for  his  debts.  The  earn- 
ings of  a  married  woman  belong  to  her  sepai'ate  estate,  but 
the  savings  from  the  community  funds  belong  equally  to 
husband  and  wife.  Slie  may  bind  herself  on  contract,  sue 
and  be  sued,  but  she  cannot  be  an  accommodation  endorser 
or  surety  nor  is  she  liable  on  any  promise  for  the  debt  or 
default  of  another.  She  cannot  encumber  or  convey  real 
estate  without  her  husband  but  a  married  woman  having 
power  to  convey  as  executrix,  administratrix,  trustee  or 
guardian  may  make  a  valid  deed  as  such  without  her  hus- 
band's signature. 

The  husband  may  make  a  will  and  dispose  of  his  entire 
property  without  provision  for  his  wife.  The  surviving  hus- 
band or  wife,  if  there  is  no  will,  has  a  life  interest  in 
one-third  of  the  property,  and  if  there  are  no  relatives,  to 
the  entire  estate. 

When  a  man  refuses  or  fails  to  support  his  wife  and 
she  lives  separate  from  him  she  may,  on  order  of  court, 
sell,  mortgage  or  lease  her  lands  and  she  may  sue  her  hus- 
band in  all  matters  relating  to  her  separate  property. 

Minors  less  than  fifteen  are  genei'ally  prohibited  from 
working  in  any  place  dangerous  to  morals,  life  or  limbs. 

Minors  less  than  eighteen  are  forbidden  to  work  as 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  131 

beggars,  or  to  sing  or  play  on  musical  instruments  on  the 
public  streets. 

No  female  is  permitted  to  work  in  any  manufacturing 
or  mercantile  establishment,  bakery,  laundry  or  restaurant 
for  more  than  ten  hours  a  day  or  sixty  hours  a  week  pro- 
vided that  this  shall  not  apply  to  any  mercantile  establish- 
ment for  the  six  working  days  before  December  25th. 

Minors  under  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working  more 
than  eight  hours  a  day,  and  are  forbidden  to  clean  machin- 
ery in  motion,  and  children  less  than  sixteen  must  have 
school  certificates  if  they  work  at  gainful  occupations. 

There  must  be  seats  provided  for  all  female  employees. 

Children  between  seven  and  fourteen  must  attend 
school  during  the  school  sessions  and  between  fourteen 
and  sixteen  unless  they  have  attained  a  certain  proficiency 
and  are  at  work  on  a  school  certificate. 

New  Jersey  under  a  law  "To  promote  home  life  for 
dependent  children"  will  pension  mother's  so  that  they 
may  keep  their  children  with  them  and  give  them  the 
necessary  care  and  education.  Applicants  for  this  relief 
must  state  in  a  petition  addressed  to  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  the  full  history  of  the  mother,  of  her  deceased 
husband  and  of  the  children,  and  give  the  name  and  address 
of  all  close  relatives,  together  with  a  statement  of  her 
effort  to  maintain  her  children  and  the  detail  of  her  life 
for  the  preceding  five  years.  After  investigation  if  it  i§ 
found  that  the  mother  is  a  proper  person  and  that  she 
cannot  keep  her  children  and  they  will  become  a  public 
charge  unless  she  is  assisted,  the  State  v/ill  allow  a  pension 
of  nine  dollars  a  month  for  one  child,  fourteen  dollars  for 
two  and  five  dollars  a  month  for  each  additional  child. 
The  State  Board  of  Children's  Guardians  then  takes  charge 
of  the  case  and  at  least  six  times  a  year  the  home  is  visited 
and  a  report  made  of  conditions. 

The  father  is  given  preference  in  the  guardianship 
of  children  and,  if  the  mother  consent,  he  can,   by  will, 


132  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

appoint  a  guardian  for  the  custody  and  care  of  his  children 
after  his  death  and  until  they  will  have  reached  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  child  or  lineal  descendants  of  one  per  cent. 
from  five  to  fifty  thousand  dollars  and  one  and  a  half  per 
cent,  from  fifty  thousand  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
two  per  cent,  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  and  three 
per  cent,  above  that  figure.  To  brother,  sister,  son-  or 
daughter-in-law  the  rate  is  two  per  cent,  from  five  to  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  three  per  cent,  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  and  four  per  cent,  on  amounts 
above  that  figure. 

New  Jersey  has  a  Red  Light  and  Abatement  Law. 

The  penalty  for  rape  of  a  girl  of  less  than  twelve 
years  of  age  is  a  fine  of  v 5,000  or  imprisonment  and  hard 
labor  for  not  more  than  thirty  years,  or  both ;  and  for  rape 
of  a  girl  less  than  sixteen  the  penalty  is  a  fine  of  $2,000 
or  imprisonment  and  hard  labor  for  not  more  than  fifteen 
years,  or  both. 

The  complainant  in  a  divorce  action  in  New  Jersey  who 
sets  up  reasons  which  occurred  outside  the  State  must 
show  that  such  grounds  would  have  constituted  a  right 
to  divorce  in  the  State  where  such  act  occurred.  Among 
other  grounds  for  divorce  in  New  Jersey  are  desertion  for 
two  years,  and  cruelty  and  among  other  grounds  on  which 
marriage  may  be  annulled  ai'e  lack  of  legal  age  to  contract 
marriage,  idiocy  and  consanguinity. 


NEW  YORK. 


Both  the  real  and  personal  property  of  a  married 
woman  owned  by  her  at  the  time  of  her  mairiage,  or  sub- 
sequently acquired,  remains  her  separate  property  and  is 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  133 

not  liable  for  her  husband's  debts.  She  may  engaged  in  any 
trade  or  business  and  her  husband  has  no  control  of  her 
contracts  with  relation  thereto  and  he  cannot  be  held  for 
her  bargains.  By  Act  of  1906  she  may  bring  suit  on  torts 
without  joining  her  husband.  If  a  wife  sustains  injury 
she  has  the  right  to  recover  damages;  her  husband,  also 
has  a  right  to  recover  damages  for  his  own  account  when 
his  wife  sustains  any  injury;  but  when  a  husband  sus- 
tains injury  he  alone  can  recover  damages  for  the  wife 
has  no  cause  of  action  to  recover  damages  by  reason  of 
injuries  to  her  husband,  unless  such  injuries  prove  fatal. 
Sums  recovered  by  the  wife  for  damages  to  her  estate, 
person  or  character  go  to  her  separate  estate. 

A  husband  is  responsible  for  the  ante-nuptial  debts 
of  his  wife  to  the  extent  only  of  the  assets  he  received 
with  her  at  marriage. 

A  woman  may  make  a  will  disposing  of  her  personal 
property  when  she  is  sixteen  years  of  age,  but  she  cannot 
dispose  of  her  real  property,  causa  mortis,  until  she  has 
attained  twenty-one  years.  A  married  woman  may  hold 
patents  for  her  inventions  and  may  vote  on  stock  in  her 
own  name,  and,  with  the  consent  of  the  insured,  she  may 
assign  insurance  policies  made  in  her  favor. 

A  widow  is  entitled  to  dower  of  one-third  in  all  lands 
owned  by  her  husband.  The  surviving  husband  is  entitled 
to  life  interest  in  all  lands  owned  by  his  wife.  When  there 
is  no  will  the  real  property  goes  to  father,  mother,  col- 
laterals. 

The  Mother's  Pension  has  proven  probably  the  most 
beneficent  law  on  the  Statute  Books  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  In  congested  and  over-populated  Manhattan  it  is 
shown  by  investigation  that  charity  is  the  sixth  largest 
business,  that  it  keeps  employed  an  army  of  experts  and 
top-heavy    salaried    institutional    employees,    that   by    its 


134  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

method  of  maintaining  a  child  in  one  of  its  institutions  the 
cost  per  annum,  per  capita,  is  three  hundred  dollars,  while 
one  hundred  dollars  a  year  is  sufficient  to  maintain  a  child 
at  home. 

There  is  a  provision  in  the  Mother's  Pension  Law 
of  New  York  which  limits  relief  to  the  children 
of  American  citizens.  As  there  is  a  huge  foreign  popula- 
tion in  New  York  it  follows  that  there  are  many  children 
forced  by  necessity  to  become  wards  of  the  State  who  have 
to  go  to  the  public  institutions. 

By  Act  of  1915  there  was  established  local  Child  Wel- 
fare Commisisons  to  investigate  applicants  for  the  pension 
and  to  see  that  those  who  are  beneficiaries  remain  worthy 
of  the  trust.  Any  widow  of  an  American  citizen  who  is 
unable  to  care  for  her  children  and  who  is  shown  to  be 
mentally,  physically  and  morally  the  best  custodian  for  her 
offspring  and  who  has  resided  in  the  State,  County  and  City 
for  not  less  than  two  years  preceding  her  application,  will 
be  allowed  an  amount  necessary  to  care  for  her  children 
less  than  sixteen  years  of  age. 

There  is  compulsory  education  for  children  between 
seven  and  fourteen  years  of  age  and  children  between  four- 
teen and  sixteen  who  are  not  employed  must  attend  school 
during  the  school  session.  Children  between  fourteen  and 
sixteen  who  work  must  file  school  certificates  showing 
attendance  of  not  less  than  130  days  in  the  preceding  year, 
physical  fitness,  the  date  of  birth  and  an  ability  to  read 
and  write  simple  English.  Children  of  less  than  fourteen 
are  prohibited  from  working  in  any  factory  and  between 
fourteen  and  sixteen  if  employed  it  must  be  during  the  day 
as  night  work  is  prohibited. 

Women  are  prohibited  from  working  in  factories  more 
than  nine  hours  a  day  regularly,  and  female  minors  are 
prohibited  from  working  after  nine  o'clock  at  night. 

Women  of  more  than  eighteen  may  be  employed  in  can- 
ning between  June  15th  and  October  15th  as  much  as  ten 


LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  135 

hours  a  day  or  sixty  hours  a  week,  and  this  time  may  be 
extended  by  the  Industrial  Board  to  twelve  hours  a  day  or 
sixty  hours  a  week  if  the  industry  requires  and  the  health 
of  the  employee  permits. 

Children  of  less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  work- 
ing in  places  dangerous  to  life  and  limbs,  among  dangerous 
chemicals,  in  distilleries,  breweries  or  where  alcoholic 
liquors  are  manufactured  or  packed. 

Children  less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  running 
elevators  and  girls  less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from 
work  which  requires  continuous  standing. 

Women  are  prohibited  from  working  in  any  factory, 
workshop  or  mercantile  establishment  within  four  weeks 
after  the  birth  of  a  child. 

Children  less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working 
in  mines  and  quarries. 

Seats  must  be  provided  for  female  employees. 

No  woman  or  girl  or  minor  less  than  eighteen  will  be 
allowed  to  sell  or  serve  liquor  for  consumption  on  the 
premises. 

Children  less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  work- 
ing in  any  indecent  or  immoral  occupation  or  where  there 
is  danger  to  life  or  limbs. 

The  age  of  consent  is  eighteen  years  and  the  punish- 
ment for  rape  is  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  ten  years. 

New  York  has  a  Red  Light  Injunction  and  Abatement 
Law  which  provides  for  the  closing  as  a  nuisance  any  build- 
ing used  for  immoral  purposes,  for  lewdness,  assignation  or 
prostitution,  and  any  domestic  corporation  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  vice  may  bring  suit  for  such  suppression  and  issu- 
ance of  the  injunction. 

Section  16  of  the  New  York  Domestic  Relations  Law 
requires  that  if  the  man  is  less  than  twenty-one  and  the 
woman  less  than  eighteen  the  written  consent  of  par- 
ents must  be  had  by  the  recording  officer,  for  the  issuance 
of  a  marriage  license.     Section  7  of  the  same  law  provides 


136  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

that  the  marriage  is  voidable  if  either  party  is  under  the 
age  of  eighteen  years. 

Divorce  will  be  granted  but  for  the  one  reason — adul- 
tery. But  a  separation  may  be  had  which  will  provide  for 
a  separate  domicile,  care  and  custody  of  children,  support, 
etc,  for  desertion,  non-support  and  cruel  and  inhuman  treat- 
ment. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to  hus- 
band, wife  or  child  from  $5,000  to  $25,000  of  one  per  cent. 

To  brother,  sister,  son-in-law  or  daughter-in-law,  from 
$500  to  $25,000,  the  tax  is  two  per  cent.,  three  per  cent,  on 
the  next  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  and  four  per  cent,  on 
the  next  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

To  others  more  remote  the  tax  is  five  per  cent,  on 
amounts  from  $500  to  $25,000,  six  per  cent,  on  the  next 
seventy-five  thousand  and  seven  per  cent,  on  the  next  hun- 
dred thousand. 

In  April,  1917,  there  was  passed  a  law  regulating  the 
hours  when  women  would  be  permitted  to  work  in  restau- 
rants, a  nine-hour  day  being  the  limit  of  time. 

In  1907  there  was  established  in  New  York  what  was 
know  as  "The  Women's  Night  Court,"  where  women  were 
tried  at  night  for  offenses  against  morality.  This  court 
became  one  of  the  "sights"  of  New  York,  and  in  1914 
Chief  Magistrate  McAdoo  said  of  it: 

"This  court  continues  to  attract  the  attention  of  great 
numbers  of  people,  not  only  here  but  throughout  the  coun- 
try and  in  foreign  lands.  It  is  the  only  court  in  the  world 
held  exclusively  for  women  and  for  certain  offenses." 

An  effoi't  was  made  to  abolish  this  Woman's  Night 
Court  in  1917,  ten  years  after  its  establishment,  which 
would  have  turned  one  of  the  most  spectacular  pages  in 
the  Directory  of  New  York's  places  of  interest. 


I  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  137 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

All  property,  real  and  personal,  owned  by  a  woman  at 
the  time  of  her  marriage  or  subsequently  acquired  in 
North  Carolina  remains  her  separate  estate,  and  is  not 
liable  for  the  debts  of  her  husband.  The  revenues  from 
her  separate  property  and  her  earnings  go  to  her  separate 
estate,  but  a  married  woman  cannot  make  a  contract  with- 
out the  consent  of  her  husband  except  for  actual  neces- 
saries of  life,  for  which  he  is  liable.  If  the  wife  is  aban- 
doned by  her  husband  she  may  contract  and  bind  her 
separate  estate  without  his  consent  and  she  may  insure  the 
life  of  her  husband  for  her  benefit  if  the  premium  does  not 
exceed  three  hundred  dollars. 

The  husband  living  with  his  wife  is  liable  with  his  wife 
jointly  for  her  torts. 

The  husband,  if  there  has  been  issue  born  alive,  is 
entitled  to  an  estate  as  tenant  by  curtesy  for  life  in  all 
real  estate  owned  by  her,  unless  it  is  shown  that  he  mali- 
ciously turned  her  out  of  doors  or  abandoned  her. 

The  widow  is  entitled  to  dower  of  one-third  of  the 
husband's  real  estate,  including  the  home,  and  an  allow- 
ance for  the  support  of  herself  and  children  for  one  yeai' 
out  of  his  estate. 

If  the  husband  die  intestate  the  real  estate  goes  to 
his  lineal  descendants  or  to  the  next  collateral  relatives 
and  only  if  there  is  no  heir  does  the  widow  take  the  estate. 

Children  less  than  twelve  years  of  age  are  prohibited 
from  working  in  mines,  mills  or  factories  and  children 
between  twelve  and  thirteen  can  only  be  so  employed  if  they 
have  certificates  showing  school  attendance  of  four  months 
in  the  preceding  year  and  are  apprenticed.  Minors  less 
than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working  after  9  p.m. 

Women  and  minors  are  prohibited  from  working  more 


138  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

than  ten  hours  a  day.  Children  between  eight  and  twelve 
must  attend  school. 

Seats  must  be  provided  for  women  employees. 

North  Carolina  has  no  Mothers'  Pension  Law,  no 
Minimum  Wage  Law.  There  are  no  adequate  protective 
laws  for  the  army  of  nearly  forty  thousand  women  and 
children  who  labor  within  her  boundaries  in  mills,  factories 
and  mercantile  establishments,  and  the  State  passed  an 
Act  for  the  restriction  of  vice  to  apply  to  but  one  county, 
the  County  of  Guilford,  reading:  "An  act  to  prevent  the 
degrading  of  public  morals  in  the  County  of  Guilford." 
Just  why  North  Carolina  is  so  much  more  solicitous  of  the 
morals  of  Guilford  than  the  remainder  of  the  Common- 
wealth is  not  easily  understood. 

A  girl  may  marry,  with  consent  of  her  parents,  at  four- 
teen years  of  age.  Residence  of  two  years  is  required  for 
the  institution  of  divorce  proceedings  and  divorce  will  be 
granted  for  husband  and  wife  living  apart  for  ten  j^ears 
and  having  no  issue,  for  physical  incapacity  and  when  the 
wife  was  pregnant  by  other  than  the  husband  at  time  of 
marriage. 

The  penalty  for  rape  of  a  girl  of  less  than  ten  years 
is  death  and  between  ten  and  fourteen  (if  previously  chaste) 
fine  and  imprisonment  in  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

North  Carolina  is  a  prohibition  State. 


NORTH  DAKOTA. 


A  married  woman  may  own  in  her  own  right  real  and 
personal  property,  manage,  sell,  convey  and  devise  her 
estate  as  freely  as  though  unmarried.  She  may  make  con- 
tracts, sue  and  be  sued  on  her  obligations.  Husband  and 
wife  have  no  interest  in  the  property  of  each  other  and  they 
are  not  answerable  for  each  other's  acts.  The  earnings 
of  the  wife  belong  to  her,  are  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  her 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  139 

husband  and  are  in  no  way  subject  to  his  control.  But  the 
husband  is  deemed  the  head  of  the  family  in  the  selection 
and  maintenance  of  the  conjugal  dwelling;  he  is  responsible 
for  the  support  of  his  wife  and  children,  and  they  must 
abide  by  his  provision.  However,  if  the  husband  becomes 
infirm  and  unable  to  support  the  family  or  himself  then 
the  wife  becomes  liable  for  the  support  of  the  conjugal 
abode  and  she  must  maintain  her  husband  out  of  her  sepa- 
rate estate. 

The  homestead  goes  to  the  surviving  husband  or  wife. 
The  same  law  of  inheritance  applies  to  husband  or  wife. 
If  either  die  intestate  the  survivor  is  entitled  to  one-half 
of  the  estate  if  there  is  but  one  child,  and  to  one-third  if 
there  are  more  children;  if  there  are  no  children  all  of 
the  estate  to  the  value  of  $15,000  goes  to  the  survivor  and 
any  excess  is  divided  between  the  survivor  and  the  parents, 
and  if  there  are  no  parents  the  survivor  takes  all. 

Children  under  fourteen  years  of  age  are  prohibited 
from  working  during  the  school  sessions  and  if  children 
between  fourteen  and  sixteen  are  employed  they  must  file 
with  their  employers  an  employment  certificate.  Minors 
less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working  more  than 
eight  hours  a  day  or  after  seven  o'clock  at  night,  to  work 
with  dangerous  machinery,  or  where  acids  are  employed,  in 
elevators  or  in  any  other  place  dangerous  to  life,  limbs  oi* 
morals.  Female  minors  less  than  sixteen  may  not  be 
employed  where  they  will  be  required  to  stand  continuously. 
Any  employer  who  compels  women  or  minors  less  than 
fourteen  to  work  more  than  ten  hours  a  day  is  guilty  of  a 
misdem.eanor  and  can  be  prosecuted  for  same. 

North  Dakota  has  a  I\Iother's  Pension  Law  which 
provides  aid  to  mother's  for  children  less  than  fourteen. 
Jurisdiction  is  given  the  County  Courts  and  when  a  des- 
titute mother  is  found  to  be  a  person  fitted  to  care  for 
her  children,  if  she  has  lived  in  the  county  a  year  she  will 


140  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

be  allowed  fifteen  dollars  a  month  for  each  child. 

The  father  is  deemed  the  legal  guardian  and  entitled 
to  the  care,  custody  and  earnings  of  all  his  minor  children. 
The  mother  succeeds  the  father  in  the  duties,  rights  and 
obligations  of  guardianship  if  she  survives  her  husband. 

The  penalty  for  rape  of  a  girl  of  less  than  sixteen 
years  is  imprisonment  for  not  less  than  five  years,  and 
between  sixteen  and  eighteen  years  the  penalty  is  imprison- 
ment from  one  to  fifteen  years. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  North  Dakota  grants 
divorce  are  abandonment  for  one  year,  habitual  drunkenness 
for  one  year,  cruelty,  neglect  for  one  year  and  conviction 
of  a  felony. 

North  Dakota  is  a  Prohibition  State. 

There  is  a  Red  Light  Injunction  and  Abatement  Law. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  above  $20,000 
passing  to  husband,  wife,  father,  mother  or  descendants, 
of  one  per  cent,  to  $100,000. 

To  brother,  sister,  son-in-law  and  daughter-in-law,  the 
exemption  is  $500  and  the  tax  one  per  cent,  to  $100,000. 

North  Dakota  does  not  inflict  capital  punishment  and 
the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  is  imprisonment  for  life. 


OHIO. 

All  property,  real  and  personal,  belonging  to  a  woman 
at  her  marriage,  or  acquired  subsequently  by  conveyance, 
gift,  devise  or  inheritance,  or  by  purchase  with  her  sepa- 
rate money,  or  from  her  personal  labor,  together  with  the 
income  therefrom,  is  her  separate  property.  The  separate 
property  of  a  married  woman  in  Ohio  is  free  from  liability 
for  the  debts  of  her  husband  and  is  under  her  sole  control. 
She  may  sue  and  be  sued  in  her  own  name.  A  married 
woman  whose  husband  deserts  her  or  neglects  to  provide 
for  her  and  his  family,  may,  by  application  to  the  Court 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  141 

of  Common  Pleas,  secure  the  care  and  control  of  the 
minor  children  and  the  right  to  convey  real  property,  and 
when  so  deserted  or  neglected  she  may  contract  for  the 
labor  of  herself  and  her  minor  children  and  collect  the 
earnings.  But  while  the  husband  lives  with  his  family  he 
is  deemed  the  head  of  the  domicile  and  has  full  authority 
and  he  is  liable  for  the  support  of  himself,  his  wife  and  his 
minor  children.  A  married  woman  in  Ohio  may  manage  her 
own  property,  may  contract  and  be  contracted  with  the 
same  as  if  sole.  The  husband  and  wife  may  be  partners 
in  business  or  the  wife  may  transact  business  on  her  own 
account  as  a  public  merchant. 

If  husband  or  wife  dies  intestate  the  survivor  takes 
all  the  personal  property  and  if  there  are  children  the 
surviving  husband  or  wife  takes  half  of  the  first  four  hun- 
dred dollars  and  one-third  of  the  remainder.  If  there  are  no 
children  or  lineal  descendants  the  real  estate  passes  to  the 
surviving  spouse  in  fee,  unless  the  property  vv^as  inherited 
from  an  ancestor  in  which  event  the  surviving  spouse  has 
only  an  interest  for  life  in  the  realty  and  it  passes  to  the 
natural  heirs.  The  widow  is  entitled  to  dower  but  curtesy 
is  abolished. 

The  preference  in  guardianship  is  given  to  the  father, 
then  to  the  mother  if  she  survive  him. 

The  penalty  for  rape  of  a  girl  less  than  twelve  years 
of  age  is  imprisonment  for  life,  and  between  twelve  and  six- 
teen years  the  penalty  is  imprisonment  from  one  to  twenty 
years. 

A  girl  may  contract  marriage  at  sixteen  with  her 
parents'  consent  and  at  eighteen  without  parental  consent. 
There  are  ten  grounds  for  divorce,  among  others  being, 
desertion  for  three  years,  cruelty,  habitual  drunkenness  for 
three  years  and  conviction  of  a  felony. 

Ohio  has  a  Mother's  Pension  Law  providing  for  pay- 
men  on  a  sliding  scale,  according  to  the  number  of  children, 
to  the  worthy  mother  according  to  the  facts  and  conditions 


142  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

prevailing.  The  allowance  is  limited  to  fifteen  dollars  & 
month  if  there  is  but  one  child  and  not  more  than  seven 
dollars  a  month  each  if  there  are  other  children.  Ohio 
has,  in  addition  to  the  Mother's  Pension  Law,  a  provision 
for  the  aid  of  school  children  where  they  cannot  receive 
the  proper  maintenance  from  their  parents  or  relatives. 

The  LaVjor  Law  restricts  the  work  of  women  over  eigh- 
teen to  not  more  than  fifty-four  hours  in  a  week  or  ten 
hours  per  day.  There  are  many  Statutes  providing  for 
proper  sanitary  regulations  and  for  the  physical  comfort 
of  employees. 

Minors  between  eight  and  fifteen  must  attend  school 
during  the  school  sessions.  Betv/een  sixteen  and  eighteen 
minors  may  be  employed  only  if  they  have  school  certifi- 
cates. If  the  children  are  unable  to  supply  themselves  with 
necessary  books  and  paraphernalia  it  will  be  provided  by 
the  Truant  Officer  and  a  further  weekly  allowance  will  be 
made;  if  necessary  for  support. 

Minors  of  less  than  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  en- 
gaging in  gainful  occupations  of  any  kind,  and  boys  between 
fourteen  and  sixteen  will  not  be  permitted  to  work  more 
than  eight  hours  a  day  and  female  minors  are  not  permitted 
to  work  before  seven  in  the  morning  or  after  six  in  the 
evening.  Women  are  prohibited  from  working  after  ten  in 
the  evening  and  before  six  in  the  morning. 

Women  and  minors  are  prohibited  from  working  in 
places  dangerous  to  life,  limbs  or  morals. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  descending  to 
others  than  husband,  wife,  child,  lineal  descendants  and 
parents  of  five  per  cent,  above  $500,  which  is  exempt. 

Ohio  gave  suffrage  to  women  by  an  Act  passed  by 
the  1917  Legislature. 


OKLAHOMA. 

A  married  woman  in  Oklahoma  may  own,  manage,  sell 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  143 

or  hypothecate,  or  devise  both  real  and  personal  property 
acquired  by  gift,  descent,  or  by  purchase  and  make  con- 
tracts, incur  liabilities  and  do  any  and  all  of  the  things 
necessary  and  requisite  to  own  or  alienate  property  of  any 
kind  the  same  as  if  she  were  unmarried.  Neither  hus- 
band or  wife  has  any  interest  in  the  property  of  the  other 
but  neither  can  be  excluded  from  the  other's  dwelling.  Hus- 
band and  wife  may  contract  with  each  other,  respecting 
property,  subject  to  the  rules  of  law  as  to  persons  in  con- 
fidential relations.  Neither  is  answerable  for  the  acts  of 
the  other.  When  the  married  woman  lives  separate  and 
apart  from  her  husband  her  earnings  and  those  of  her 
minor  children  go  to  her  separate  estate  and  her  sepa- 
rate property  is  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  her  husband, 
but  when  they  are  living  together  the  husband  is  deemed 
the  head  of  the  conjugal  home  and  has  full  authority  as  to 
its  regulation,  location,  etc.  If  he  is  able  to  do  so  he  must 
support  his  wife  and  family  but  if  he  is  not  able  then  the 
separate  property  of  the  wife  is  liable  for  the  obligation. 
If  either  husband  or  wife  be  absent  from  the  marital  domi- 
cile for  more  than  one  year  the  court  may  authorize  the 
other  to  sell  or  mortgage  the  property  of  the  absentee  for 
the  support  of  the  family. 

The  surviving  husband  or  wife  has  the  right  to  the 
use  of  the  homestead.  Personal  property,  household  fur- 
nishings and  paraphernalia,  books,  etc.,  go  to  the  surviving 
spouse. 

If  the  husband  dies  intestate  personal  property  to  the 
value  of  $1,500  goes  to  the  widow  and  minor  children  ex- 
clusive of  any  claims,  if  there  be  more  than  that  value  the 
excess  goes  one-half  to  the  mother  and  the  other  half  to 
one  child,  if  there  be  more  than  one  child  then  the  widow 
takes  one-third  of  the  excess  above  $1,500  and  if  there 
are  no  children  the  widow  takes  all. 

In  any  event  one-third  of  the  property  goes  to  the 
surviving  wife  or  husband  and  cannot  be  diverted  by  will. 


144  LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN 

Boys  less  than  sixteen,  women  and  girls,  are  prohibited 
from  working  in  mines  and  quarries. 

Minors  less  than  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  working 
in  mills,  factories  and  places  injurious  or  dangerous  to  life, 
limbs  and  morals.  Minors  less  than  sixteen  who  work  must 
file  a  school  certificate. 

Seats  must  be  furnished  to  female  employees. 

The  guardianship  of  children  is  deemed  due  equally  to 
the  father  and  mother  and  is  left  to  the  discretion  of  the 
court. 

The  penalty  for  rape  of  a  girl  less  than  fourteen  years 
is  death  or  life  imprisonment,  between  fourteen  and  six- 
teen the  penalty  is  imprisonment  from  one  to  three  years. 

A  girl  of  fifteen  may  be  married  with  the  consent  of 
parents.  Oklahoma  will  grant  divorce,  among  other  rea- 
sons, for  the  following :  Abandonment  for  one  year,  cruelty, 
habitual  drunkenness  and  gross  neglect. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to  a 
widow  of  one  per  cent,  above  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars, of  one  per  cent,  above  ten  thousand  dollars  to  each 
child  and  one  per  cent,  above  five  thousand  dollars  to 
brother,  sister,  son-in-law  and  daughter-in-law. 

Oklahoma  has  had  woman's  suff"rage  since  1907. 


OREGON. 


Married  women  in  Oregon  have  the  right  to  sell,  man- 
age, convey  and  devise  their  separate  property  Vv'hich  con- 
sists of  all  the  estate  owned  at  the  time  of  marriage  or 
acquired  subsequently  in  any  manner -whatsoever.  The  sep- 
arate property  of  the  wife  is  not  liable  for  the  debts  of  the 
husband,  but  the  property  of  both  husband  and  wife  are 
equally  liable  for  the  support  and  education  of  the  childreao, 


OLIVE  STOTT  GABRIEL 

President  Women  Lawyers'  Astociation 


LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  145 

and  legitimate  family  expenses;  neither  being  liable  for 
the  contracts  of  the  other  beyond  this  provision.  Husband 
and  wife  are  free  to  convey  property  to  each  other  and  to 
contract  with  each  other. 

By  special  Satute  all  civil  disabilities  have  been  remov- 
ed from  the  married  woman  and  she  may  be  sued  and  appeal 
to  the  courts  in  her  own  name  and  right. 

There  is  curtesy  and  dower  of  the  right  to  the  use  for 
life  of  half  of  all  lands  owned  by  the  deceased. 

The  surviving  wife  or  husband  is  entitled  to  one-half 
of  the  personal  property  if  there  is  a  child  and  to  all  if 
there  are  no  children. 

The  State  of  Oregon  when  it  established  the  Industrial 
Welfare  Commission  in  1913  took  a  step  in  advance  of 
Massachusetts  and  Nebraska  in  their  Welfare  Commisison 
provisions.  The  intent  is  summarized  in  the  preamble 
which  reads:  "Whereas  the  welfare  of  the  State  of  Oregon 
requires  that  women  and  minors  should  be  protected  from 
conditions  of  labor  which  have  a  pernicious  effect  on  tlieir 
health  and  morals,  and  inadequate  wages  and  unduly  long 
hours  and  unsanitary  conditions."  There  follows  mny  regu- 
lations to  control  the  sanitary  conditions  where  v»'0men  and 
minors  are  employed  and  it  is  made  unlawful  to  employ 
minors  for  unreasonably  low  wages.  The  commission  is 
composed  of  three  persons,  one  to  represent  the  employers, 
one  the  employees  and  one  the  disinterested  public,  without 
salary,  but  their  expenses  are  defrayed.  The  first  commis- 
sion had  as  one  member  a  woman  who  acted  as  secretary. 
The  duty  of  the  commission  is  to  investigate  and  declare 
proper  standards  and  conditions  of  labor  for  women  and 
minors,  length  of  time  of  labor  days,  minimum  wages 
(which  means  the  wage  on  which  these  laborers  can  be 
maintained  in  health). 

Under  the  Labor  Law  children  of  less  than  fourteen 
are  prohibited  from  working  during  school  sessions  and 
minors  less  than  sixteen  must  have  school  certificates  if 


146  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

permitted  to  work  at  gainful  occupation,  and  they  are  not 
allowed  to  work  at  night. 

Maximum  hours  for  girls  under  eighteen:  eight  hours, 
twenty  minutes  a  day ;  fifty  hours  a  week  in  manufacturing 
or  mercantile  establishments,  millinery,  dressmaking,  or 
hairdressing,  shop,  laundry,  hotel,  restaurant,  telephone  or 
telegraph  establishment.  Such  girls  not  to  be  employed 
after  6  p.m. 

Females  in  mercantile  establishments  (Portland)  eight 
hours,  twenty  minutes  per  day,  fifty  hours  a  week;  no 
work  after  6  p.m.  of  any  day. 

Females  in  manufacturing  establishments   (Portland) 
nine  hours  a  day,   56  hours  a  week.    Office  work  (Port- 
land) fifty-one  hours  a  week. 

No  women  to  be  employed  in  any  industry  in  the  State 
more  than  fifty-four  hours  a  week. 

Women  not  to  be  employed  after  8.30  p.m.  in  any  mer- 
cantile, manufacturing  or  laundry  establishments. 

The  Mother's  Pension  Law,  in  effect  since  1915,  pro- 
vides that  every  woman  who  has  one  or  more  children 
whose  husband  is  dead,  an  inmate  of  a  State  institution  or 
is  incapacitated  by  reason  of  disease,  physical  or  mental, 
and  whose  children  are  dependent  upon  her  for  support,  is 
entitled  to  receive  ten  dollars  a  month  if  there  is  but  one 
child,  and  seven  dollars  and  a  half  for  each  additional  child, 
if  more  than  one,  the  whole  not  to  exceed  forty  dollars  a 
month.  The  woman  must  have  been  a  resident  of  the  State 
for  three  years  and  must  be  a  woman  morally  and  physically 
fit  for  the  care  and  custody  of  her  children. 

Oregon  has  equal  suffrage  and  has  been  a  prohibition 
State  since  1916.  Capital  punishment  is  not  inflicted  and 
the  extreme  penalty  is  imprisonment  for  life. 

There  is  a  Red  Light  Injunction  and  Abatement  Law. 

A  girl  of  sixteen  may  contract  legal  marriage  with  the 
oonsent  of  her  parents. 

The  custody  and  guardianship  of  the  children  devolves 
3<iaally  upon  the  father  and  the  mother  and  the  earnings 


'    LAWS'  AFFECTING   WOMEN  147 

of  minors  are  due  and  controlled  by  both.  In  the  event  of  the 
death  of  either,  then  the  survivor. 

Marriage  may  be  dissolved  at  the  suit  of  the  injured 
party  for  any  one  of  the  following  causes :  Impotency,  adul- 
tery, conviction  of  felony,  habitual  drunkenness,  desertion 
of  one  year,  and  cruel  and  inhuman  treatment. 

The  plaintiff  must  be  a  resident  of  the  State  at  the 
time  of  commencing  suit,  and  for  one  year  prior  thereto. 

If  defendant  resides  out  of  the  State,  and  personal 
service  of  the  summons  cannot  be  made,  service  may  be 
made  by  publication  of  the  summons  in  a  newspaper  once 
a  week  for  six  weeks. 

The  court  may  order  the  husband  to  pay  a  sufficient 
sum  of  money  to  enable  the  wife  to  prosecute  the  suit,  or 
defend  it,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  court  may  also  provide 
for  the  care,  custody  and  maintenance  of  minor  children 
during  the  pendency  of  the  suit,  and  for  the  freedom  of 
the  wife  from  the  control  of  the  husband  pending  suit. 

The  prevailing  party  in  the  suit  is  entitled  to  the 
undivided  one-third  of  the  whole  of  the  real  property  owned 
by  the  other  at  the  time  of  the  decree. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  parents,  child,  brother,  sister,  son-in-law, 
daughter-in-law  and  lineal  descendants,  of  one  per  cent, 
above  five  thousand  dollars,  which  is  exempt. 

Eleven  States  in  which  minimum  labor  wage  had  been 
established  awaited  a  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  on  a  case  taken  there  for  decision  from  the  State 
of  Oregon,  and  in  mid-April,  1917,  the  highest  Tribunal 
affirmed  the  right  of  a  State  to  regulate  the  wage  of 
women  laborers. 


PENSYLVANIA. 

Manied  women  in  Pennsylvania  have  the  right  to  con- 


148  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

tract,  hold,  acquire  and  dispose  of  property,  for  all  the 
disabilities  of  married  women  as  to  the  acquisition  and  dis- 
position of  property,  and  the  right  to  make  contracts,  hold 
acquire  and  dispose  of  property,  has  been  sub- 
stantially removed,  except  that  she  cannot  mortgage,  lease, 
or  convey  real  estate  unless  her  husband  joins  in  the  con- 
veyance.Her  deed  or  lease  must  be  separately  acknowledged. 
Property  owned,  or  acquired  after  marriage  or  earned  at  any 
time  by  a  married  woman  is  her  separate  property  and  is 
not  liable  for  the  debts  of  her  husband.  She  may  carry 
on  a  business  and  make  contracts  with  relation  to  same 
and  sue  and  be  sued  in  the  conduct  of  such  business  or  trade ; 
she  cannot,  however,  be  an  accommodation  endorser  or 
surety  for  another.  She  may  sell  and  convey  or  dispose  of 
at  will  her  personal  property  without  regard  to  her  husband. 
The  widow  takes  for  life  one-third,  or,  if  there  are  no 
children  surviving,  one-half,  of  all  real  estate  owned  by  her 
husband  at  his  decease  and  she  is  entitled  to  dower  in  any 
estate  owned  by  him  during  marriage,  unless  she  released 
it  or  it  was  sold  under  execution.  The  husband  is  entitled 
to  use  of  the  wife's  lands  for  life  whether  there  are  children 
or  not.  Husband  and  wife  may  sue  each  other  for  recovei 
or  to  protect  the  separate  propei'ty  of  either. 

If  a  husband  fails  to  support  his  wife,  or  his  children, 
if  there  are  children,  and  the  wife  maintains  herself  and  her 
children,  she  may  petition  the  court  to  be  pennitted  to 
carry  on  business  for  her  support  and  upon  securing  such 
an  order  she  is  as  free  in  her  right  to  acquire  or  dispose 
of  property  as  if  unmarried  and  at  her  death  her  husband 
has  no  rights  in  her  property. 

Children  under  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  engaging 
in  gainful  occupation  and  between  fourteen  and  sixteen 
children  must  have  a  school  certificate  if  employed  and  may 
not  be  hired  in  any  place  dangerous  to  life,  limbs  or  morals. 

When  a  married  woman  contributes  to  the  suppoi-t 
of  her  child  or  children  she  is  entitled  to  equal  custody, 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  149 

gfuardianship  and  services  of  her  child  or  children  with  the 
father,  and  a  mother  who  leaves  an  estate  may  appoint  a 
g'uardian  for  her  child  or  children  who  inherit  such  estate. 

Pennsylvania  reserves  to  each  County  the  right  to  havt 
a  Mother's  Pension  provision,  and  if  the  county  avails 
itself  of  it,  then  the  State  appoints  a  Board  of  Trustees  to 
be  composed  of  not  less  than  five  or  more  than  seven  women 
to  carry  out  the  regulations.  This  Board  examines  each 
applicant  and  if  the  destitute  mother  is  worthy,  and  the  best 
custodian  of  her  children,  she  will  be  granted  relief  not  to 
exceed  twelve  dollars  a  month  for  one  child,  twenty  dollars 
for  two  children,  twenty-six  dollars  for  three  children  and 
Ave  dollars  for  each  additional  child,  and  payment  ceases 
when  the  child  reaches  sixteen  or  secures  employment. 

Pennsylvania  has  a  Red  Light  and  Abatement  Law. 

The  penalty  for  violation  of  a  girl  less  than  sixteen  (if 
chaste)  is  a  fine  of  not  more  than  $1,000  and  imprisonment 
not  exceeding  fifteen  years. 

In  Pennsylvania  persons  of  either  sex  who  have  not 
attained  twenty-one  years  may  obtain  a  marriage  license  on 
the  written  consent  of  parents  or  guardians.  If  a  promise 
of  marriage  is  made  by  any  minor  the  promise  can  be  repu- 
diated on  the  minor  reaching  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

Among  the  other  grounds  for  divorce  are  desertion  of 
two  years,  abuse,  lunacy,  relationship  within  the  prohibited 
degree,  felony  and  fraud. 

Estates  less  than  $250  are  exempt  from  inheritance  tax 
and  there  is  no  tax  on  property  passing  to  parents,  husband, 
wife,  children,  lineal  descendants,  stepchildren,  adopted 
children,  wife  or  widow  of  son,  and  to  all  others  five  per 
cent. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 

A  married  woman  in  Rhode  Island  retains  as  her  sepa- 


150  LAWS   AFFECTING    WOMEN 

rate  property  whatever  estate  she  was  possessed  of  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage  or  subsequently  acquired,  and  the 
product  of  her  earnings.  She  may  acquire  and  dispose  of 
her  earnings.  She  may  acquire  and  dispose  of  her  prop- 
erty, control  the  rents,  revenues  and  issues  without  regard 
to  her  husband,  except  as  to  his  right  of  curtesy  in  her 
real  estate.  She  may  make  valid  contracts  and  dispose 
of  her  estate  by  will,  subject  only  to  her  husband's  right 
of  curtesy.  Her  separate  property  is  not  liable  for  the 
expense  of  the  family,  or  for  the  support  of  herself  or  chil- 
dren, except  by  her  written  order.  A  married  woman  com- 
ing from  another  State,  whose  husband  has  never  lived 
with  her  in  Rhode  Island,  after  a  year  of  continuous  resi- 
dence may  transact  business,  make  contracts,  have  the  cus- 
tody of  her  children,  dispose  of  property  and  act  in  every 
way  as  a  femme  sole. 

A  widovv'  is  entitled  to  one-third  interest  in  all  lands 
owned  by  her  husband  during  the  marriage.  If  he  dies 
intestate  she  is  entitled  to  one-third  of  the  personal  property 
if  there  is  issue  and  one-half  if  there  are  no  children,  and 
the  Probate  Court  is  empowered  to  award  her,  in  addition 
to  her  dower  of  one-third,  additional  interest  in  the  real 
estate  if  conditions  warrant. 

There  is  a  compulsory  education  law  for  children  be- 
tween seven  and  fifteen  years  of  age.  Children  of  less  than 
fourteen  are  not  permitted  to  work  and  children  between 
fourteen  and  sixteen  must  have  a  school  certificate  if  they 
are  employed  and  they  are  prohibited  from  working  at 
night.  Minors  are  not  allowed  to  work  in  places  dangerous 
to  life,  limb  or  morals  and  women  are  proliibited  from  sell- 
ing alcoholic  beverages  except  in  licensed  taverns  or  victual- 
ing houses.  The  hours  of  labor  are  restricted  to  nine  hours 
in  a  day  or  fifty-four  hours  in  a  week. 

Rhode  Island  will  grant  divorce  -for  desertion  of  five 
years,  habitual  drunkenness,  non-support  of  one  year  or 
gross  misbehavior. 


r  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  151 

Estates  of  less  than  five  thousand  dollars  are  exempt 
from  inheritance  tax. 

Rhode  Island  does  not  inflict  death,  the  extreme  penalty 
for  crime  being  life  imprisonment. 

Rhode  Island  granted  women  suffrage  in  1917. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

By  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
adopted  in  1895  "The  real  and  personal  property  of  a 
v/oman  held  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  or  that  which 
she  may  thereafter  acquire  by  gift,  grant,  inheritance,  de- 
vise or  otherwise,  shall  be  her  separate  property,  and  she 
shall  have  all  the  rights  incident  to  the  same  to  which  an 
unmarried  woman  or  man  is  entitled.  She  shall  have  the 
power  to  contract  and  be  contracted  with  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  if  she  were  unmarried."  A  husband  is  liable  for 
the  support  of  his  wife  and  family  but  he  is  not  liable 
for  other  debts  of  his  wife.  A  widow  is  entitled  to  one- 
third  of  her  husband's  real  estate  and  children  the  remain- 
der; if  there  are  no  children  she  is  entitled  to  one-half  and 
the  remainder  goes  to  parents  or  the  descendants  of  his 
parents.  If  there  survives  no  kindred  she  takes  the  whole 
estate. 

Children  less  than  twelve  years  of  age  are  prohibited 
from  working  in  mines  and  factories.  Children  under  four- 
teen a.re  prohibited  from  working  in  too  close  proximity 
to  dangerous  machinery  and  when  they  are  employed  they 
must  file  with  their  employer  a  certificate  setting  forth 
name,  birthplace,  age  and  residence.  Children  less  than 
sixteen  are  prohibited  from  v/orking  at  night  and  their 
hours  of  labor  are  limited  to  sixty  hours  in  a  week  or  ten 
hours  a  day.  The  hours  of  work  for  women  are  limited  to 
sixty  hours  in  a  week,  not  to  exceed  twelve  hours  in  any 
day,  and  they  are  not  allowed  to  work  after  ten  o'clock  at 
night. 


152  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

South  Carolina  is  a  Prohibition  State  since  1916. 

The  labor  laws  for  the  protection  of  women  and  children 
are  insufficient  and  leave  much  to  be  desired  by  advocates  of 
legal  safeguards  to  the  health  and  morality  of  working 
women  and  minors. 

The  penalty  for  violation  of  a  girl  less  than  ten  years 
of  age  is  death  or  imprisonment  from  five  to  forty  years, 
and  less  than  fourteen,  imprisonment  for  not  more  than 
fourteen  years. 

A  girl  of  fourteen  may  contract  a  valid  marriage  with 
her  parents'  consent,  but  South  Carolina  makes  no  provision 
for  the  dissolution  of  the  contract.  There  are  no  divorce 
laws  in  South  Carolina. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  estates. 

South  Carolina  seems  to  stand  among  the  States  much 
like  a  certain  Jim  Downs  did  in  a  Kentucky  town  where  a 
great  revival  had  brought  within  the  fold  about  all  of  the 
population.  One  night  when  the  revivalist  called  for  those 
who  had  not  yet  accepted  religion  to  come  forward  to  the 
mourners'  bench,  while  all  the  congregation  stood  and  sang 
lustily,  Jim  Dovv^ns  started  doAvn  the  center  aisle.  The  re- 
vivalist threw  up  his  hands  and  shouted  "STOP,  cease  sing- 
ing !  Here  comes  Jim  Downs,  a  man  supposed  to  be  impervi- 
ous to  reform,  and  there's  work  for  all  God's  people  on  his 
case  for  the  rest  of  the  night!  We  will  devote  our  efforts 
to  this  last  and  hardest  seeker  of  the  Truth."  The  good 
sisters  and  brothers  of  the  other  States  who  have  labored 
long  and  have  brought  about  so  many  beneficent  laws  for 
women  and  children  might  well  watch  this  fine  old  Southem 
State  for  its  first  unbending  and  then  concentrate  all  of 
their  efforts  to  make  the  surrender  to  the  fold  of  Progress 
complete.  Nowhere  in  the  land  is  there  more  chivalry, 
finer  old-fashioned  standards  of  honor,  probity  and  good  de- 
meanor, than  in  South  Carolina,  but  there  is  a  huge  popula- 
tion of  uneducated  negroes  to  be  considered  and  hence  the 
problems  of  this  State  are  many.     Poor  women  who  must 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  163 

labor  to  live,  and  destitute  widows  and  orphans  need  pro- 
tection, but  they  can  get  it  only  along  with  civilizing  educa- 
tion and  a  certain  reorganization  of  a  race  which  Time  alone 
can  produce. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA. 


A  married  woman  may  own  in  her  own  right  in  South 
Dakota  real  and  personal  property,  and  she  may  manage, 
sell,  and  convey  and  devise  the  same  as  freely  as  though  she 
were  unmarried,  and  she  may  contract  and  sue  and  be  sued 
as  if  a  femme  sole.  The  property  of  the  husband  is  not 
liable  for  the  debts  or  torts  of  the  wife  nor  is  the  property 
of  the  wife  liable  for  the  acts  of  her  husband.  But  the 
securing  of  a  wife  in  her  property  rights  gives  her  no 
additional  personal  rights.  The  husband  is  deemed  the  head 
of  the  family  and  he  alone  selects  the  domicile  and  orders 
the  mode  of  life,  and  the  wife  must  conform  to  his  dictum. 
The  husband  is  liable  for  the  support  of  his  wife  and  family 
and  if  he  does  not  make  proper  provision  the  wife  may  se- 
cure it,  and  the  property  of  the  husband  will  be  held  for  the 
obligation.  However,  if  the  husband  is  unable  to  provide, 
because  of  infirmity,  it  then  becomes  the  duty  of  the  wife 
to  support  him  and  the  family  and  her  separate  property 
will  be  held  for  the  obligation. 

The  surviving  husband  or  wife  remains  in  possession 
of  the  homestead  and  all  the  furnishings  of  the  home  pass 
to  him  or  her.  If  there  is  no  will  the  survivor  takes  one-half 
of  the  estate,  up  to  $5,000,  if  there  are  no  children ;  and 
one-third  if  there  are  children. 

South  Dakota  is  a  Prohibition  State  since  1916  and  has 
a  Red  Light  and  Abatement  Law  fashioned  after  the  Iowa 
law  on  the  subject. 

South  Dakota  does  not  inflict  the  death  penalty  but 
makes  life  imprisonment  the  maximum  sentence  for  crime. 


154  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

There  is  a  Mother's  Pension  law  which  provides  that 
County  Court's  shall  examine  into  the  application  of 
destitute  widows  who  need  support  for  their  children  and, 
by  an  amendment  passed  in  1915  the  relief  will  also  be 
granted  to  women  whose  husband's  are  divorced. 

Children  under  fourteen  are  protected  from  mine 
working  and  under  sixteen  from  labor  in  any  place 
dangerous  to  life,  limbs  or  morals.  Ten  hours  is  the  limit 
allowed  for  a  labor  day  and  children  under  fourteen  must 
have  a  school  certificate  if  employed. 

A  girl  of  fifteen  may  contract  marriage  with  the 
consent  of  her  parents. 

Divorce  will  be  granted  for  desertion,  neglect  or 
habitual  drunkenness  for  one  year. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  not  exceeding 
$15,000  passing  to  wife  or  lineal  descendant,  of  one  per 
cent. ;  to  husband,  ancestor,  adopted  child  or  its  issue,  one 
and  a  half  per  cent. ;  to  brother,  sister  or  their  descendants, 
and  to  son-in-law  and  daughter-in-law,  three  per  cent.;  to 
uncles,  aunts  or  their  descendants,  four  per  cent,  and  to  all 
others  five  per  cent. 


TENNESSEE. 


The  rents  and  revenues  of  any  property  owned  by  a 
woman  in  Tennessee  at  her  marriage  passes  into  the 
control  and  custody,  and  may  be  diverted  to  the  use  of  her 
husband.  The  husband's  interest  in  his  wife's  lands  cannot 
be  taken  for  his  debts.  There  are  three  ways  to  acquire 
property  in  Tennessee — by  purchase,  by  inheritance  and  by 
marrying  it;  however,  when  realty  comes  by  the  last 
method  of  acquisition  it  cannot  be  disposed  of  by  the 
husband  unless  his  wife  joins  in  the  Act  of  Sale.  But  the 
general  personal  property  of  a  woman,  whether  acquired  be- 
fore or  after  marriage,  becomes,  after  being  reduced  to 


ADDENDA— TENNESSEE 

AN   ACT   TO   REMOVE   DISABILITIES    OF    COVER- 
TURE FROM  MARRIED  WOMEN: 

Be  it  Enacted  By  The  General  Assembly  Of  The  State 
Of  Tennessee,  That,  married  women  be,  and  are,  hereby  fully 
emancipated  from  all  disability  on  account  of  coverture,  and 
the  common  law  as  to  disabilities  of  married  women  and  its 
effect  on  the  rights  of  property  of  the  tvife,  is  totally  abro- 
gated, and  marriage  shall  not  impose  any  disability  or  in- 
capacity on  a  woman  as  to  the  ozvnership,  acquisition  or  dis- 
position of  property  of  any  sort,  or  as  to  her  capacity  to 
make  contracts  and  do  all  acts  in  reference  to  property,  which 
she  coidd  lawfully  do  if  she  were  not  married;  but  everv 
woman  now  married  ^ or  hereaiter  to  be  married,  shall  have  the 
same  capacity  to  acquire,  hold,  manage,  control,  use,  enjoy 
and  dispose  of  all  property,  real  and  personal,  in  possession, 
and  to  make  any  contract  in  reference  to  it,  and  to  bind  her- 
self personally,  and  to  sue  and  be  sued  with  all  the  rights  and 
incidents  thereof,  as  if  she  were  not  married. 

Passed  February  20,  1913. 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  155 

possession  by  the  husband,  his  property,  and  is  subject  to 
his  debts,  contracts  and  disposition  as  his  own,  being  sub- 
ject only  to  a  first  claim  by  her  actual  creditors.  The 
and  to  son-in-law  and  daughter-in-law,  three  per  cent. ;  to 
personal  property  of  a  wife  is  not  subject  to  claims  for 
debts  incurred  by  her  husband  before  marriage.  A  mar- 
ried woman  may  sue  for  her  earnings  or  wages  without 
joining  her  husband  and  when  engaged  in  business  she  is 
liable  for  all  debts  contracted  in  its  conduct. 

A  widow  is  entitled  to  dower  of  one-third  interest  in 
all  of  her  husband's  realty  and  the  husband  is  entitled  to 
curtesy  of  life  interest  in  all  lands  of  his  wife  if  there  was 
issue  bom  alive.  The  personal  estate  passes  to  the  surviv- 
ing spouse  if  there  are  no  children  and  if  there  are  children 
it  is  shared  by  them  equally. 

When  a  married  woman  is  living  apart  from  her 
husband  she  may  be  empowered  to  dispose  of  her  lands  as 
if  single,  but  generally  the  wife  in  Tennessee  has  no  right 
to  contract  or  bind  herself  in  any  way  without  her  husband 
joins.  She  is  liable  as  though  unmarried  for  debts 
contracted  in  any  mercantile  or  manufacturing  business  in 
which  she  may  be  engaged. 

A  mother  has  not  the  right  to  appoint  a  testamentary 
guardian  for  her  minor  children  but  a  father  has  the  right 
to  appoint  a  guardian  for  his  children  until  they  attain 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  The  mother  becomes  the  guardian 
only  if  the  father  is  dead  and  has  not  provided  by  will  or 
deed  for  guardianship. 

Tennessee  has  a  Red  Light  law  but  a  building  used  for 
immoral  purposes  can  only  be  closed  on  the  application  of 
ten  citizens  and  the  county  or  district  attorney  concurring. 

Tennessee  is  a  Prohibition  State  since  1909. 

A  girl  of  twelve  and  a  boy  of  fourteen  may  contract  a 
legal  marriage  in  Tennessee. 

Divorce  will  be  granted  for  desertion  of  two  years, 
cruelty,  habitual  drunkenness  and  non-support. 

There  is  no   inheritance  tax  on  propeii;y   passing  to 


156  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

parents,  husband,  wife,  child,  or  descendants,  on  amounts 
of  less  than  five  thousand  dollars,  and  between  five  and 
twenty  thousand  the  tax  is  one  per  cent,  and  above  that 
amount  one  and  a  half  per  cent. 

A  Mother's  Pension  law  has  been  in  effect  since  1915 
which  gives  jurisdiction  of  dependent  or  neglected 
children  to  the  Juvenile  Courts.  An  allowance  of  ten 
dollars  a  month  will  be  made  for  one  child  of  sixteen  or  less 
and  five  dollars  a  month  for  each  additional  child. 

The  general  provisions  of  the  labor  law  in  effect 
prohibit  children  less  than  sixteen  from  working  in  places 
dangerous  to  life,  limbs,  or  morals  and  women  and  children 
less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from  working  more  than 
ten  and  a  half  hours  a  day. 


TEXAS. 

All  property,  real  or  personal,  owned  by  a  woman  at 
her  marriage,  or  subsequently  acquired,  remains  her 
separate  property,  but  she  cannot  dispose  of  or  encumber 
her  property  unless  her  husband  joins  her  or  she  is 
authorized  by  the  court.  The  homestead  is  the  joint 
property  of  husband  and  wife  and  can  be  disposed  of  only 
when  both  join  in  the  deed.  There  is  established  by  the 
marriage  contract  a  community  of  interest  and  all  property 
acquired  during  its  existence  is  the  property  of  both,  except 
that  a  wife's  earnings  and  compensation  for  injuries  go  to 
her  separate  estate. 

The  personal  property  located  in  Texas  of  a  deceased 
husband  or  wife  goes  as  follows :  If  there  are  children  all 
personal  community  property  descends  to  them,  and  the 
separate  property  goes  one-third  to  the  surviving  husband 
or  wife  and  the  remainder  to  the  children,  and  if  there  are 
no  children  then  all  of  the  community  personal  property 
goes   to    the    surviving   spouse.     Children    of   half   blood 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  157 

inherit  half  as  much  as  children  of  whole  blood  and  adopted 
children,  if  there  are  no  other  children,  inherit  the  same  as 
children  of  full  blood,  otherwise  they  inherit  in  the' 
proportion  of  one-fourth.  The  foregoing  is  subject  to  the 
first  lien  of  a  widow  to  a  thousand  dollars  a  year  for 
support  and  five  hundred  dollars  in  lieu  of  exempt  personal 
property.  The  surviving  husband  or  wife  has  control  of 
the  community  property,  and  has  a  one-third  interest  for 
life  in  all  the  real  estate  of  the  deceased  spouse,  and,  if 
there  are  no  children,  all  of  the  personal  property.  The 
father  is  deemed  the  natural  guardian  of  his  children  and 
if  the  mother  survive  him  she  succeeds  to  the  trust. 

A  girl  of  fourteen,  with  parents  consent,  can  contract 
marriage.  Divorce  will  be  granted  among  other  reasons, 
for  desertion  of  three  years  and  for  cruelty  or  excesses 
which  render  life  together  insupportable. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  parents  or  descendants. 

Women,  not  relatives  of  the  owner,  are  prohibited 
from  working  in  saloons.  Children  under  fifteen  are  pro- 
hibited from  working  in  factories  or  other  places 
dangerous  to  life  and  limbs. 

There  is  a  law  in  Texas  which  punishes  as  vagrants 
parents  who  will  not  work  but  who  depend  on  their  minor 
children  to  work  and  support  them. 

Children  between  eight  and  fourteen  must  attend 
school. 

The  hours  of  work  for  females  employed  in  laundries 
is  limited  to  eleven  hours  a  day,  in  textile  factories  to  ten 
hours  a  day  and  when  employed  more  than  nine  hours 
extra  pay  must  be  given. 

The  marriage  of  a  female  minor  gives  her  all  of  the 
rights  she  would  have  if  of  age.  Marriage  agreements  may 
be  made  before  a  notary  and  may  be  acknowledrred  by  a 
minor,  with  parent  or  guardian's  consent,  and  are 
unalterable  after  marriage. 


158  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

UTAH. 

All  property  owned  by  husband  or  wife,  acquired 
before  or  after  marriage,  is  separate  property  and  may  be 
managed  or  disposed  of  without  any  marital  restriction 
whatever.  The  expenses  of  the  family  and  education  of 
children  is  chargeable  to  the  estate  of  both  and  neither 
husband  or  wife  are  liable  for  the  debts  of  the  other.  The 
wife  alone  can  recover  for  personal  injuries  she  may  suffer 
and  the  husband  is  not  liable  for  the  torts  of  his  wife. 

If  husband  or  wife  die  intestate  all  the  estate  goes  one- 
half  to  the  surviving  spouse  and  the  other  half  to  the  child ; 
if  more  than  one  child  then  the  spouse  takes  one-third  and 
the  children  the  remainder.  If  there  are  no  children  at  all 
the  estate  up  to  five  thousand  dollars  in  value  goes  to  the 
surviving  spouse,  and  one-half  of  the  amount  in  excess  of 
five  thousand  dollars  goes  to  the  survivor,  and  the  other 
half  to  parents  or  descendants.  In  the  event  there  are  no 
parents  or  descendants  the  surviving  spouse  takes  all. 

The  laws  of  Utah  regulate  the  wages  of  women  and 
minors  providing  the  minimum  wage  to  unskilled  minor 
workers  shall  not  be  less  than  seventy-five  cents  a  day,  of 
skilled  minor  workers  ninety  cents  a  day,  and  experienced 
adults  not  less  than  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  day. 

Minors  under  fourteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in 
any  mine  or  smelter  or  other  place  dangerous  to  life  or 
limbs  or  morals. 

The  earnings  of  a  minor  cannot  be  held  for  any  debt 
except  for  his  own  actual  necessaries  of  life. 

Utah  has  a  Red  Light  Injunction  and  Abatement  law, 
and  is  an  equal  suffrage  State.  Utah  has  a  Mother's 
Pension  law  which  gives  to  County  Commissioners  the 
power  to  apply  for  the  relief  of  destitute  mothers  an 
appropriation  of  Ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  in  counties 
of  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  population,  and  not  to 
exceed  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  counties  where  the  popu- 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  159 

lation  exceeds  one  hundred  thousand.  Ten  dollars  a  month 
will  be  allowed  for  one  child  under  fifteen  years  of  age,  and 
five  dollars  a  month  for  each  additional  child;  the  require- 
ment is  that  the  mother  shall  be  competent  and  best  fitted 
for  the  custody  of  her  children. 

Utah  has  an  individual  Welfare  Commission  and  the 
minimum  wage  of  women  and  minors  is  fixed.  The 
regulation  surrounding  working  conditions,  hours  of  labor 
and  the  age  limit  for  employing  minors  is  under  control  of 
the  commission. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  habitual  drunkenness,  permanent  insanity,  desertion  of 
one  year  and  conviction  of  a  felony.  A  girl  of  fourteen 
may  contract  a  valid  marriage  with  the  consent  of  her 
parents. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  estates  of  less  than 
ten  thousand  dollars,  three  per  cent,  on  amounts  from  ten 
to  tv/enty-five  thousand,  and  five  per  cent,  on  amounts 
in  excess  of  twenty-five  thousand. 

Utah  gives  a  condmned  criminal  the  choice  of  hanging 
or  shooting. 


VIRGINIA, 


All  real  and  personal  property  owned  by  a  woman 
at  her  marriage,  or  which  she  may  subsequently  acquire, 
is  her  separate  estate,  not  subject  to  the  use,  control  or 
disposal  of  her  husband  or  to  liability  for  his  debts.  She 
may  engage  in  trade  and  her  husband  is  not  liable  for  her 
torts  or  her  debts  or  bargains  and  the  proceeds  of  her 
labor  or  earnings  go  to  her  separate  estate.  She  may  make 
contracts  and  sue  and  be  sued  thereon.  If  married  after 
March  31,  1875,  the  husband  is  not  liable  for  the  ante  nup- 
tials debts  of  his  wife.     If  a  husband  wilfully  deserts  his 


160  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

wife  and  remains  away  from  her  until  her  death  he  loses  all 
rights  in  her  estate. 

A  widow  is  entitled  to  dower  and  a  husband  to  curtesy. 
After  the  right  of  dower  and  curtesy  the  real  estate  passes 
to  children  and  if  there  are  no  children  to  kindred  of  common 
great  grandparents,  and  if  there  are  none  then  to  the  surviv- 
ing spouse. 

The  father  and  mother  are  equally  entitled  to  the 
guardianship  of  their  children  and  to  their  services  and 
earnings.  The  parents  succeed  to  the  estate  of  their  child- 
ren at  their  death. 

Virginia  is  a  Prohibition  State  and  has  a  Red  Light  In- 
junction and  Abatement  law. 

The  age  of  consent  is  fourteen  years  and  the  punish- 
ment for  rape  is  imprisonment  from  five  to  twenty  years. 

Among  other  grounds  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
are  desertion  of  three  years,  insanity  at  marriage,  fugitive 
from  justice  for  two  years,  and  conviction  of  a  felony. 

There  is  an  inheritance  tax  on  property  in  excess  of 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  up  to  fifty  thousand  dollars  passing 
to  husband,  wife,  child,  descendant,  brother  or  sister  of  one 
per  cent.,  to  others  five  per  cent. 

There  is  protection  under  labor  laws  for  minors  of  less 
than  sixteen  from  working  in  places  dangerous  to  life,  limbs 
and  morals.  Children  less  than  sixteen  are  prohibited  from 
working  in  mills,  factories,  workshops,  mercantile  establish- 
ments, etc.,  more  than  six  days  in  the  week,  or  for  more 
than  ten  hours  a  day  but  it  is  expressly  stipulated  that  the 
children  of  parents  who  own  factories,  mills,  etc.,  are 
exempt  from  this  restriction  and  likewise  it  does  not  apply 
to  canneries  between  July  and  November.  Women  are 
prohibited  from  employment  for  more  than  ten  hours  a  day. 


VERMONT. 

The  real  estate  of  a  mai  ried  woman,  the  rents,  issues 


LAWS   AFFECTING  WOMEN  161 

and  products  thereof,  and  during  coverture,  her  husbands 
interest  in  same,  may  be  taken  for  debts  created  for 
necessaries  for  the  family  but  cannot  be  levied  upon  for  the 
sole  debts  of  the  husband ;  the  real  estate  owned  at  marriage 
or  subsequently  acquired,  being  and  remaining  the  separate 
estate  of  the  wife.  All  personal  property  acquired  by  a 
married  woman  during  coverture  or  by  inheritance  is  held 
to  her  sole  and  separate  use.  She  cannot,  however,  dispose 
of  her  real  estate  unless  her  husband  joins  in  the  deed. 
When  husband  and  wife  are  separated,  however,  she  may 
be  authorized  by  the  court  to  dispose  of  her  property  with- 
out joining  her  husband. 

The  surviving  wife  or  husband  is  entitled  to  one  third 
of  the  estate,  and  if  there  are  no  children  the  whole  of  the 
estate  up  to  $2500,  and  half  of  the  excess;  if  there  is  no 
kindred,  the  whole  estate  goes  to  the  surviving  spouse.  The 
preference  is  given  the  father  in  the  guardianship  of  child- 
ren, and  if  the  mother  survive,  then  the  guardianship  passes 
to  her. 

Minors  less  than  sixteen  may  not  be  employed  more 
than  nine  hour  a  day  or  at  night  and  children  less  than 
fourteen  are  prohibited  for  working  in  mills,  factories,  etc. 
Females  less  than  eighteen  are  not  permitted  to  be  employed 
where  continuous  standing  is  required.  Children  between 
eight  and  sixteen  must  attend  school. 

Vermont  will  grant  divorce  among  other  grounds  for 
desertion  or  continued  cruelty  for  a  period  of  three  years, 
non-support  and  when  not  heard  from  in  seven  years. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  property  passing  to 
husband,  wife,  child  or  lineal  descendants. 


WEST  VIRGINIA. 


West  Virginia,  like  Louisiana,  puts  under  the  disability 
clause  married  women,  minors,  and  persons  of  insane  mind, 


162  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

but  goes  farther  than  the  Civil  Code  by  adding  also  "persons 
in  the  penitentiary."  There  is  also  a  specific  discrimination 
against  married  women  not  "parents"  in  that  the  48th 
Sec.  of  Art.  6,  of  the  Constitution  of  West  Virginia  provides 
that  "Any  husband  or  parent  may  hold  a  homestead  of 
One  Thousand  Dollars,"  and  it  also  exempts  from  forced 
sale  for  judgment  liens  personal  property  to  the  amount  of 
Two  Hundred  dollars.  If  the  husband  does  not  claim 
this  exemption  the  wife  may  do  so,  but  she  must  be  a 
"parent,"  as  well  as  a  wife,  or  she  cannot  claim  the 
exemption.  After  the  death  of  the  husband  the  widow 
"parent,"  or  minor  children,  may  select  personal  property 
to  the  value  of  $200  and  hold  the  same  exempt  from  the 
debts  and  liabilities  chargeable  to  the  estate. 

The  separate  property  of  the  married  woman  is  not 
subject  to  the  control  of  her  husband  but  remains  "in  all 
respects  as  if  she  were  a  single  woman,  and  is  in  no  way 
subject  to  the  control  of  her  husband  nor  liable  for  his 
debts."  But  the  married  woman  cannot  sell  and  convey  her 
real  estate,  unless  she  be  living  separate  and  apart  from 
her  husband,  "unless  her  husband  join  with  her  in  the  con- 
veyance." And  if  a  married  woman,  living  separate  and 
apart  from  her  husband,  convey  real  estate,  the  deed  must 
recite  the  fact  of  her  separation  and  there  must  be  an 
acknowledgement  of  such  separation  before  an  official 
authorized  to  receive  it  and  he  must  recite  that  he  knows 
the  property  to  be  separate  and  that  he  knows  the  wife 
is  living  apart  from  her  husband. 

The  married  woman  living  with  her  husband  cannot 
mortgage  or  otherwise  hypothecate  her  separate  property 
unless  her  husband  join  and  authorize  her.  Nor  can  she 
carry  on  a  business  as  a  public  merchant  or  form  a  partner- 
ship without  the  specific  consent  of  her  husband. 

Mrs.  G.  Mclntyre  Weaver,  a  woman  lawyer  of  Berkeley 
Springs,  West  Virginia,  says  in  relation  to  the  disabilities 
of  the  married  woman:  "While  she  can  carry  on  any  busi- 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  163 

ness  as  a  f  emme  sole  can,  and  her  earnings  are  her  sole  and 
separate  property  free  from  the  control  of  her  husband, 
yet  if  she  keeps  boarders,  does  washing  and  kindred  tasks 
in  her  home  or  does  sewing  to  help  out  the  family  income, 
such  earnings  are  the  property  of  her  husband  and  can  be 
garnisheed  for  his  debts." 

In  the  case  of  Humphrey  vs.  Spencer,  36  West  Virginia, 
p.  11  it  was  held:  "A  deed  from  a  husband  conveying 
property  direct  to  his  wife,  though  void  at  law  and  passing 
no  title,  is  valid  in  equity  to  pass  a  substantial  estate." 

In  Cosner  vs.  McCune,  40th  West  Virginia,  339,  it  was 
held:  "V/here  a  wife  acquires  real  property  direct  from  her 
husband  she  acquires  only  an  equable  estate,  the  legal  title 
remaining  in  the  husband  as  trustee  of  the  estate.  Whore 
she  acquires  the  property  through  a  third  person  the 
Statute  gives  her  the  title  to  the  estate." 

Marriage  of  a  female  under  the  age  of  twenty  one  does 
not  make  her  sui  juris,  and  she  cannot  sue  in  proper  person 
as  can  a  married  woman  of  over  twenty  one.  Under  twenty 
one,  a  married  woman  desiring  to  sue  for  divorce  must  sue 
in  her  name  by  her  prochein  ami.  Should  she  be  sued  a 
guardian  ad  litem  must  be  appointed.  If  a  minor  of  less 
than  fourteen  marries  without  the  consent  of  parents  or 
guardians  her  estate  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver 
who  administers  it  for  her  until  she  arrives  at  the  age  of 
twenty  one  years.  If  the  minor  has  a  guardian  appointed 
by  a  deceased  father,  such  guardian  has  the  full  authority 
to  give  or  withhold  consent  to  the  marriage  of  the  minor, 
regardless  of  the  mother.  The  father  can  appoint  a 
guardian  for  his  minor  child  or  children  though  the  mother 
be  living.  And  the  father,  by  the  mere  virtue  of  being  the 
father,  while  he  lives,  is  deemed  by  the  law  of  West 
Virginia  the  proper  guardian  and  custodian  of  the  child  or 
children  of  his  marriage,  while  the  mother,  if,  under  certain 
circumstances,  given  the  guardianship  and  custody  of  the 


164  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

child,  must  be  "a  person  fit  for  the  trust."  Hence  it  would 
appear  that  while  West  Virginia  favors  the  married  woman 
who  is  "a  parent"  in  homestead  rights  and  exemption  of 
personal  property,  it  stops  at  that.  The  Court  declares  in 
Cunningham  vs.  Barnes,  37  West  Virginia,  p.  346  "The  wel- 
fare of  the  child  is  the  polar  star  by  which  the  discretion 
of  the  court  must  be  guided." 

Mrs.  Weaver,  in  discussing  the  rights  of  parents 
says:  "While  under  the  law  the  father  is  the  sole  ar- 
biter of  the  destiny  of  his  minor  children  and  entitled 
to  their  care,  custody  and  control,  yet  in  cases  where, 
as  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  there  is  pre-nuptial 
contract  agreeing  the  children  shall  be  reared  in  that 
faith,  the  mother  being  Catholic,  and  the  father  later 
attempts  to  control  the  church  which  his  children  shall 
attend,  other  than  the  church  mentioned  in  the  contract, 
the  court  will  enforce  the  pre-nuptial  contract. 

Should  a  widow  be  appointed  a  guardian  of  her  child- 
ren, upon  her  marriage  again  the  guardianship  ceases 
by  operation  of  law  for  "No  married  woman  can  be 
appointed  a  guardian  for  minor  children  and  the 
marriage  of  a  female  guardian  terminates  the  trust." 
Chap.  66  West  Virginia  Code. 

A  very  good  clause  in  the  laws  of  West  Virginia  is  that 
which  enables  a  woman  to  maintain  an  action  for  injury 
to  her  means  of  support  from  the  unlawful  sale  of  liquor  to 
her  husband.  In  the  case  of  McMaster  vs.  Dyer,  44th  West 
Virginia,  p.  644,  the  court  held  "A  married  woman  injured 
in  her  property,  person  or  means  of  support  by  reason  of 
unlawful  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  to  a  son  may  maintain 
a  suit  for  damages,  notwithstanding  that  her  husband,  the 
father  of  the  son,  is  living." 

In  the  case  of  Duckworth  vs.  Stahlmaker  63  West 
Virginia,  p.  197,  the  court  held : 

"If  a  husband  whose  labor  contributes  to  his  wife's 
support,  becomes  intoxicated  in  a  saloon  owned  by  or 


t  LAWS   AFFECTING   V/OMEN  165 

controlled  by  a  licensed  saloon  keeper,  by  drinking  in- 
toxicating liquors  sold  him  by  such  saloon  keeper,  and 
he    is    forcibly    ejected    from    the    saloon    by    such 
barkeeper  and  so  physically  injured  as  to  become  in- 
capable and  disabled  from  performing  his  usual  labors 
the  wife  has  a  right  of  action  against  the  saloon  keeper 
for  injury  to  her  means  of  support. 
The  husband  is  liable  for  the  torts  of  his  wife  and  in 
all  such  actions  against  her  the  husband  must  be  joined. 
A  judgment  rendered  may  be  enforced  against  the  separate 
property  of  the  wife. 

A  widow  is  entitled  to  dower  of  one  third  of  all  real 
estate,  and  if  the  husband  survive  the  wife  he  is  entitled 
by  courtesy  to  tenancy  of  any  real  estate  owned  by  his 
wife,  whether  there  survived  children  or  not.  The  wife 
may  insure  the  life  of  her  husband  for  her  own  benefit 
provided  the  premium  does  not  exceed  One  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars;  she  may  hold  in  her  right  patents  of  her  in- 
ventions, her  separate  bank  account  and  stock  in 
corporations. 

The  real  and  personal  property  of  the  wife  at  the  time 
of  her  marriage  or  which  she  may  become  possessed  of  by 
inheritance,  remains  her  separate  property. 

Minors  under  14  are  prohibited  from  working  in  mills, 
factories  and  workshops,  or  in  any  other  business  without 
the  permission  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  or 
the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  and  children  between  14  and 
16  who  may  work  in  the  first  named  places  must  have  a 
certificate  from  the  school  authorities.  Minors  under 
fifteen  are  prohibited  from  being  employed  in  places  danger- 
ous to  their  morals  or  to  life,  limb  or  health. 

West  Virginia  has  a  Mother's  Pension  Law  which 
provides  that  the  Overseer  of  the  district  may  be  appealed 
to  by  any  woman  with  legitimate  children  who  is  unable  to 
provide  for  such  children.  After  investigation  if  it  is 
found  the  woman's  husband  is  dead  or  incapacitated  or  is 


166  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN 

confined  in  any  State  institution  or  has  abandoned  his  wife, 
such  assistance  will  be  granted  the  woman  as  may  seem  to 
insure  her  in  the  maintenance  of  her  children,  such 
assistance  not  to  exceed  Ten  dollars  a  month  for  each  child. 
The  allowance  will  not  be  made  for  children  of  more  than 
fourteen. 

The  age  of  consent  is  fourteen  and  the  penalty  for 
rape  is  death  or  imprisonment  from  five  to  twenty  years. 

West  Virginia  is  a  Prohibition  State. 

Among  other  reasons  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted 
is  desertion  of  three  years,  licentiousness  of  either  before 
marriage  and  unknown  at  time  of  marriage,  or  conviction 
of  felony,  and  marriages  may  be  annulled  because  of 
insanity,  consanguinity,  miscegenation  or  want  of  age. 

Marriage  may  be  contracted  by  a  female  of  sixteen 
with  the  consent  of  parent  or  guardian. 


WASHINGTON 


All  propert3%  real  and  personal,  ov/ned  by  the  husband 
or  v/ife  before  marriage  or  acquired  afterward  by  gift, 
devise  or  descent,  is  separate  property,  and  all  property 
acquired  during  marriage,  except  by  gift,  devise  or  descent, 
is  common  property.  They  may  dispose  of  their 
respective  interests  in  the  common  property  to  each  other. 
All  laws  which  imposed  civil  disabilities  upon  the  wife  and 
not  upon  the  husband  have  been  abolished  in  the  State  of 
Washington.  A  wife  receives  and  holds  to  her  separate 
estate  her  earnings  but  the  husband  has  control  of  other 
property  acquired  by  either  or  both  after  marriage,  but  he 
cannot  encumber  or  sell  the  real  estate  unless  the  wife 
joins. 

The  surviving  wife  or  husband  is  entitled  to  half  of 
the  community  property  and  the  other  half  is  subject  to  the 
will  of  the  deceased.     If  there  is  no  will  then  the  half 


LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN    '  167 

of  the  community  property  owned  by  a  deceased 
husband  or  wife  goes  to  the  children  and  if  there  are  no 
children  to  the  surviving  spouse.  One-half  of  the 
personal  property  goes  to  the  survivor  if  there  are  children 
and  if  there  are  no  children  all  personal  property  goes  to 
the  survivor.  The  parents  of  children  are  equally  entitled 
to  their  guardianship  and  custody. 

Washington  has  a  Red  Light  and  Abatement  law,  is 
an  equal  suffrage  and  a  prohibition  State.  There  is  a 
Mother's  Pension  law  which  provides  for  the  support  of 
women  who  are  widowed  or  whose  husbands  are  inmates  of 
penal  institutions,  insane  asylums  or  totally  disabled. 
Fifteen  dollars  a  month  will  be  allowed  for  each  child  less 
than  fifteen  years  and  five  dollars  a  month  for  each 
additional  child.  The  juvenile  courts  have  jurisdiction  of 
all  applicants. 

Washington  has  an  Industrial  Welfare  Commission 
and  while  there  is  no  stipulation  that  the  Board  must  have 
women  members  there  were  three  women  appointed  to  it 
in  1913.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Commission  to  ascertain 
wage,  sanitary  and  other  conditions  surrounding  laboring 
women  and  minors.  A  minimum  wage  is  established  which 
must  be  sufficient  to  maintain  the  workers  in  health  and 
surrounding  conditions  must  be  such  as  will  be  conducive 
to  good  morals. 

There  is  no  inheritance  tax  on  estates  of  less  than  Ten 
thousand  dollars  passing  to  husband,  wife,  child,  lineal 
descendants  or  parents,  and  above  ten  thousand  dollars  the 
the  tax  is  one  per  cent. 

Divorce  will  be  granted  for  abandonment  for  one 
year,  non-support,  incurable  insanity,  and  cruelty. 

Washington  does  not  inflict  the  death  penalty, 
imprisonment  for  life  being  the  maximum  sentence. 


168  LAWS   AFFECTING   WOMEN  ' 

WISCONSIN 

The  property,  real  and  personal,  of  a  wife  in 
Wisconsin,  which  she  owns  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  or 
acquires  subsequently  by  inheritance,  gift,  grant,  devise  or 
bequest  from  any  person  other  than  her  husband,  is  her 
separate  property  and  not  subject  to  his  disposal  nor  is  it 
liable  for  his  debts.  A  married  woman  may  convey  her 
real  and  personal  property  as  if  unmarried  and  her 
husband  need  not  join  in  the  deed.  A  husband  cannot 
dispose  of  the  homestead  unless  his  wife  joins  in  the  deed. 

The  surviving  wife  or  husband  is  entitled  to  one-half 
of  the  real  and  one-half  of  the  personal  property,  with  the 
homestead;  and  if  there  are  no  children  the  surviving 
spouse  takes  the  entire  estate  to  the  value  of  $20,000  and 
three-quarters  of  the  remainder,  the  other  one-quarter 
going  to  parents,  and  if  there  are  no  surviving  parents,  or 
their  descendants,  then  all  goes  to  the  surviving  spouse. 

Wisconsin  will  grant  divorce,  among  other  grounds, 
for  desertion  of  one  year,  conviction  of  a  felony  and 
incarceration  for  three  years,  habitual  drunkenness, 
separation  for  five  years,  and  non-support. 

The  custody  of  children  and  their  guardinship  goes  by 
preference  to  the  father  and  at  his  death  to  the  mother, 
while  she  remains  unmarried. 

Wisconsin  has  a  Red  Light  and  Abatement  law. 

Aid  will  be  granted  to  a  woman  for  the  support  of 
herself  and  children  when  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
juvenile  or  county  court.  The  sum  of  fifteen  dollars  a 
month  will  be  allowed  for  one  child  and  ten  dollars  a  month 
for  each  additional  child,  the  total  not  to  exceed  forty 
dollars  a  month. 

Children  between  seven  and  fourteen  must  attend 
school  and  between  fourteen  and  sixteen,  if  not  employed. 
Minors  less  than  eighteen  are  prohibited  from  working  in 
cigar  factories  for  more  than  eight  hours  a  day.    Women 


LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN  16!» 

aj"e  prohibited  from  working  in  places  or  for  a  number  of 
hours  or  under  conditions  which  would  be  predjudicial  to 
health  or  moi-als.  An  Industrial  Commission  regulates  the 
wages  and  conditions  for  work  of  women  and  minors  with 
the  result  that  Vv'isconsin  has  unusually  good  rules  and  laws 
for  the  protection  of  women  and  children. 

Wisconsin  does  not  indict  the  death  penalty  and  the 
maximum  sentence  is   imprisonment  for  life. 


WYOMING 

The  property  rights  of  a  married  woman  in  Wyoming 
do  not  differ  essentially  from  those  of  men.  She  may  sue 
and  be  sued,  make  contracts,  carry  on  business,  retain  and 
control  her  earnings  and  hold  and  convey  property  free 
from  interference  by  her  husband  and  free  from  liability 
for  his  debts.  She  may  hold  oitice  and  vote  at  elections  but 
she  is  prohibited  from  acting  as  an  administratrix. 

The  surviving  spouse  is  entitled  to  the  homestead  and 
if  the  total  estate  does  not  exceed  $1,500  it  goes  to  the 
survivor  and  childi'en  in  indi vision.  If  it  does  exceed 
that  sum  the  survi\ing  spouse  is  entitled  to  one-half  and 
the  children  to  one-half  and  if  there  are  no  children  three- 
quarters  goes  to  the  surviving  spouse  and  one-quailer  to 
parents.  If  there  are  neither  children  or  parents  the 
surviving  spouse  takes  all. 

The  guardianship  of  children  vests  equally  in  the 
father  and  mother. 

There  is  a  Mother's  Pension  law  which  pro\'ides  aid  for 
vv^orthy  mothers  who  are  unable  to  care  for  their  children 
of  twenty  dollars  a  month  for  one  child  of  less  than  fourteen 
and  ten  dollars  a  month  for  each  additional  child.  There 
ai-e  few  women  and  children  engaged  in  gainful  occupation 
in  Wyoming  but  they  have  protecting  laws  from  too  long 
hours,  too  small  remuneration  and  against  labor  in  places 
dangerous  to  life,  limbs  and  morals. 


170  LAWS    AFFECTING    WOMEN 

Among  other  grounds  for  divorce  in  Wyoming  are 
desertion  of  one  year,  cruelty,  habitual  drunkeness,  non- 
support. 

There   is   an   exemption   of  Ten   thousand   dollars   to 
property  passing  to  husband,  wife,  child,  lineal  descendants, 
and  a  tax  of  two  per  cent,  on  amounts  in  excess  of  ten 
thousand  dollars  to  these  relatives. 


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